Alien Watch in a Monster School
by Emblemfan1
Summary: Christian Hawke is a boy with a tragic past that he tries to hide. He's been given a mission to build a bridge between the world of humans and monsters. What challenges await him in his quest for peace? Will his bonds with his new friends help in his task or lead him to further despair? Armed with his new Omnitrix, anything is possible.
1. Fact file

**Alien watch in a monster school plan:**

**• Story name: Alien Watch in a Monster School **

**• Type of story: Crossover (Ben 10 and Rosario + Vampire, but may have characters from other shows joining.) **

**• Main character: OC with a new Omnitrix model (He will be called Christian Hawke)**

**• Main love interest: Moka Akashiya**

**• Other love interests: Kurumu Kurono, Yukari Sendo, Mizore Shirayuki, Ruby Tojo**

**• Other members of the Newspaper Club: Ginei Morioka, Zackery Orion **

**• Christian's Age: 16**

**• Main Character's Appearance: **

**Christian's Appearance: Brown hair with a short fringe, brown eyes, and average but handsome features. He normally wears the Yokai Academy uniform. His casual clothes normally consist of a black jacket, white shirt with two grey rectangles just below the neck, blue jeans, and blue and white trainers with blue streaks at the back.**

**• Christian's Personality: **

**Christian is kind, understanding, and will do anything for a friend, even if it will kill him. He easily empathizes with Moka when he hears her back story, as it is similar to his own. Christian gets aggravated by strong people who look down on others and hates bullies and perverts. At the beginning he is protective of himself and doesn't really open up about his feelings. He becomes better at opening up his feelings as the story progresses. Christian is able to see the potential in anyone and will try to make others see it too. He doesn't like to fight but will do it if necessary. He is determined to build the bridge between monsters and humans so that he can stay with his friends. Christian is very serious but does have a sense of humour that develops over his time at the academy. His friends call him Chris. He falls in love with Moka as soon as they meet but is afraid to admit his feelings because he fears she won't feel the same. He doesn't understand Kanji very well. He tries to hide his hurt through good will and his general attitude, however on rare occasions; he lets it out and cuts himself off from people for a few days.**

**• Christian's History: **

**Christian was orphaned at a young age after his parents were killed in an alien raid (his parents were Plumbers). Christian was taken in by the Plumbers. During his time with the Plumbers, he was taken care of by Max Tennyson and he is close to Ben and Gwen Tennyson, who are like his siblings, as well as Kevin Levin. He spent the last two years training in the Plumber Academy and graduated with honours. He is also an expert in hand-to-hand combat. Despite being brought up alongside Ben and Gwen, he was a lonely child and never really managed to make many friends. Because of the loss of his parents, he became very shy and not very open about his feelings. His protective nature diminishes as he spends time with his friends. He is sent to Yokai academy to learn more about the school and what they do, as well as find out about the different types of monsters that go to the school and their opinions of humans. He is given his own Omnitrix in order to hide his true identity from the students and faculty; however he is only able to access 15 alien forms at the start to reduce suspicion. Christian has trained in using them with Ben before coming to Yokai Academy. He is entered into the academy under the suspicion he is a doppelganger.**

**• Christian's Skills and Hobbies: **

**He is extremely athletic and quite intelligent. He is an expert in hand to hand combat making him a threat in both human and alien form. He loves snowboarding. He enjoys writing short stories and is good at art. Due to his plumber training, he is an experienced tactician an always has a plan. He also enjoys card games as he played a lot when he was a kid.**

**• Christian's Omnitrix: **

**It is similar to Ben's current one but has a black frame instead of a white one. The interface looks like the one from the prototype Omnitrix's first form. There are buttons at the side of the Omnitrix that allows Christian to scroll through his selections. The interface does have a touch screen, which Christian can use to unlock new features. The Omnitrix is also able to collect monster DNA, but only if Christian chooses to, and even then, the monsters have to touch the Omnitrix. The Omnitrix is able to fix any abnormalities that affect the user's or other's DNA, however it is unable to fix them if the abnormality has bonded with the users DNA. Christian is able to maintain alien/monster form for 15 minutes. There is an Evolution feature, begrudgingly added by Azmuth upon Max's request in case of emergencies. The Omnitrix also has a universal translator that allows Christian to understand any language and everyone else to understand him; however it doesn't translate Japanese writing for him. There is a voice command feature, as well as a delayed change feature and a quick change feature. When selecting a form, it shows the alien options by showing a hologram of the alien form. The Omnitrix has a secondary user feature, which means Christian can choose someone he trusts and they will be able to activate Omnitrix features with a command word or action.**

**• Aliens Christian has access to: Diamondhead, XLR8, Astrodactyl, Blitzwolfer, Way Big, Humungousaur, Rath, Big Chill, Ripjaws, Eye Guy, Kickin Hawk, Feedback, Cannonbolt, Grey Matter, Swampfire, and Ironmonger**

**• Monsters Christian has access to: Flarefox**

**Second OC **

**All creative rights go to Lewamus Prime**

**Name: Zackery Orion**

**Nickname: Zack or Z**

**Appearance: Zack has black hair that is a bit long and spiky, he is thin with a little build-up of muscle with some abs. His skin has a light tan. His face is angular and considered by the girls of the academy as handsome or cute. He has sky blue eyes with a red scar on his left eye.**

**Age:16**

**Love interests: Lala, Momo, Nana, Yami and Mea (To Love Ru) and Kuroka (Highschool DxD)**

**Clothes: He wears a long hooded black jacket with red flames and blue lines, a undershirt red T-shirt and a white tank inside, a pair of black leather gloves, blue pocket pants and black sneakers with sliver and blue lines.**

**Personality: Zack is a goofball but is helpful and modest. He makes people laugh at his actions or jokes, but he is a heroic person with good intentions. He is very kind and gentle to people on his good side and is innocent with a positive attitude towards almost everyone he encounters. He's the kind of person who sees everybody he meets as a potential friend. He possesses very good manners, though he is prone to being childish. He is loyal and fearless as he had experienced near death situations. He has a very strong emphasis on keeping promises and friendship. Overall, he is a nice guy, however he has a short temper that is dangerous if he goes out of control. Like Christian, he is willing to sacrifice himself to protect his friends.**

**Likes: Teasing, foods, music, having fun, games, watching TV, helping people, planting, animals, meat, dessert, root beer (A soda like drink).**

**Dislikes: Perverts, veggies (sometimes), heartless jerks, bullies, people who hurt or insult his friends or family, being pushed around, someone ruining his root beer, people being used as a weapon.**

**Hobbies: Drawing, cooking, watching the sky, playing video games, sleeping, doing work, training, pranking people.**

**Zack's Omnitrix: It appears to be like Albedo's from Omniverse, but with a blue coloration. Zack's Omnitrix is an imperfect copy of Christian's Omnitrix, meaning it doesn't work the same way as other Omnitrixs'. He transforms by using his mind. When he transforms, a blue aura spreads over him, which is the source of his transformation. When he turns into an Ultimate, a red aura spreads over the alien form he is currently in and transforms it into the form he is in. Currently, Zack is only able to maintain his form for fifteen minutes.**

**Zack's Aliens: Zack currently has access to all the aliens Christian could originally turn into and Grimlock. He doesn't have Ironmonger or Flarefox**

**Zack calls his Omnitrix, The Ultramatrix.**


	2. Chapter 1

This is my first Crossover story. I hope that you all enjoy. Please remember to review and leave your comments. All criticism is welcome and will be acted upon. This will begin as a one shot. If people enjoy this Fic then I shall continue writing. This takes place during Ben 10 Omniverse, but no one knows Ben's secret identity or that aliens exist. The OC is based off an old friend of mine who I haven't seen in a long time. Just to let everyone know, this is going to follow the manga of Rosario+Vampire but will have some anime elements. Enjoy!

"**..." Speech**

'**...' Quote **

'**H**_**i' Thought**_

**Alien Watch in a Monster School**

**A New Hero on the Block**

Deep in the outskirts of the Japanese countryside, a mysterious bus trudged its way down the long, narrow, empty road as sakura blossoms fell from the nearby trees that decorated the route. To anyone who could see the bus, they would have thought it to be you average, everyday school bus. It was yellow in colour with a long green strip along the side. There was nothing peculiar about the bus itself, however the bus driver was a different story. He was dressed in a professional bus driver's uniform, which consisted of a blue suit and hat which hid the top half of his face from view. Dust covered the shoulders of the suit making it look as if it had not been washed. The driver was very thin and slouched over the wheel of the vehicle. He sported a thin moustache beneath his nose. A lit cigar stuck out of his mouth. Every so often a puff of smoke would rise from the cigar, only to leave the bus through the driver's open window. Despite being hidden beneath the shadow of his hat, you could tell where the bus driver's eyes were as they seemed to shine through the dark like orbs of light.

The bus had one lone passenger. He was a fifteen year old, Caucasian American who was staring out of the window, observing the passing Japanese countryside. He had short brown hair, brown eyes and average but handsome features. He was skinny but did have some muscle tone from his hard training regimen. He was dressed in a school uniform which consisted of a white, buttoned shirt, a red tie and a green blazer. He also sported a pair of brown trousers and black sneakers. At his side was a grey suitcase. On his wrist was a strange black, mechanical watch with white rims. Its face had a green hour glass symbol.

This boy's name was Christian Hawke.

Christian was a recent graduate of the Plumber Academy. The Plumbers were a secret organisation of intergalactic police officers that dealt with the affairs of alien criminals that would dare to attack Planet Earth.

As the journey progressed, the new Plumber replayed the events in his head that had led him to be in this situation.

_Flashback_

_Christian stood in the control hub of the underground Plumber headquarters in Bellwood. He had been called upon by Max Tennyson, a magister of the Plumbers, to receive an important mission. The new Plumber was waiting patiently for said person to arrive. _

_Within a few minutes, Max arrived, coming out of the lift that came down from the secret entrance in an undercover plumbing shop above the surface. However, to Christian's surprise, Max was not alone. Max's grandson and one of Christian's childhood friends, Ben Tennyson, was there alongside his grandfather._

_Max was a heavyset man with short grey hair. He would always be wearing Hawaiian shirts which were normally red with grey and purple flower designs. Ben was one year older than Christian and had a similar build. He had short brown hair and green eyes. He wore a black t-shirt that had a green line going down its centre. The number 10 was in the centre of that line. The famous Omnitrix was on his left wrist. _

_Christian saluted the two of them. "Magister Tennyson." He said as he greeted Max with a handshake before turning and giving Ben a nod, which was gladly returned. "Ben."_

_Max shook his head at the greeting and placed his hand on Christian's shoulder gently. "Now Chris, you know you don't need to be so formal. I have known you since you were a toddler and have taken care of you ever since-." Max stopped suddenly looking in to the sad eyes of the boy in front of him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-". This time it was Christian's turn to stop Max. _

"_Don't worry, it's fine." He replied sadly, however the look in his eyes showed otherwise._

_An awkward silence filled the control room before it was broken by Ben coughing into his hand. "Grandpa, perhaps we should tell Chris about his mission." He said as he gave Christian a cheeky grin. _

_Max nodded to his grandson, relieved for the change in topic. "Yes, I believe you're right Ben." His tone then changed to a serious one. "Chris, we are going to send you to Japan." _

_Christian's eyes widened slightly in confusion. "Japan? Why Japan?"_

_Max walked over to one of the many monitors in the control room. After pressing a few keys, the screen changed to show the country of Japan. A red circle outlined a location in the south of the country. Afterwards Max turned back to address Christian. "What you learn in the next few minutes is to remain within the four of us and Ben's partner Rook." _

"_Four?" Christian asked, looking around the almost empty control room. Only himself, Max and Ben were in the large room. "Who is the fourth?" _

"_I come all this way and I'm not even acknowledged. How very rude." A annoyed voice said that, despite the irritation in the words, sounded very wise. _

_Once again, a wide eyed Christian looked around the room only to see the smiling faces of Max and Ben. _

"_Who said that?" He asked, utterly confused. _

"_That would be me." The voice spoke again. It seemed to originate to the left of Christian. Turning around, Christian saw a small alien standing on top of a briefcase who he was sure had not been there before. The alien was tiny, no bigger than his hand. It had grey clammy skin with a strangely shaped head and had two green, bulbous eyes. He had two whiskers on either side of his face and two beneath his chin that made seem as if he had a beard, adding to the wise atmosphere that the alien projected. He wore a green robe that went down to the alien's feet. Christian knew exactly who this alien was. _

"_Azmuth!?" Christian exclaimed in surprise. What was the smartest being in three universes, arguably five, doing at a briefing for his first mission?_

_Ben walked up to his friend and clapped him on the back. "Everything is going to be explained in a moment dude. And trust me. you are going to be ecstatic with the bonus prize." He explained with a smirk on his face. _

_Christian raised a questioning eyebrow before nodding and turning back to the patiently waiting Max. "Alright, listen up Chris, because this is going to be important."_

_Christian nodded and began to listen to what Max had to say. "Now, you know that Plumbers are meant to protect the Earth from alien attacks. Well, aliens aren't the only beings that are unknown to the human population."_

_Christian looked at the old man strangely but remained silent._

"_Monsters are also out there in the world, living normal lives." Max continued to explain._

"_What!?" Christian shouted, earning a smirk from Ben, who had reacted in the same way Christian had when he had first heard this._

"_It's true" Ben cut in. "The Plumbers apparently discovered their existence years ago but were unable to do any further investigations due to all the alien attacks." _

_Max nodded, confirming what Ben had said before he continued. "However, due to the work that Ben had done with the Omnitrix, we have decided that it is time that we build the bridge that will connect the human and monster worlds."_

_Needless to say, Christian was overwhelmed by the new information. Monsters exist and lived within human society; this was a huge amount to take in. _

_After processing the information, he asked. "So what has that got to do with my assignment?"_

_Max smiled before answering. "We have received intel that deep in Japan, there is a school known as 'Yokai Academy'. It specialises in teaching monsters how to interact with people in human society." Max explained. "This is where you come in. We plan on sending you in so that you can learn about the Yokai at the school and to let them know that humans are ready to make peace with them." _

"_So, you want me to go back to school and build a bridge between our species and theirs." Christian summed up._

"_Exactly." Max confirmed before his face took a more serious look. "However, there is something you must know." He paused slightly, as if debating whether to tell Christian what he knew. After a moment he continued. "Our Intel has also told us that the academy doesn't allow humans to enter the school. If one is caught upon its grounds, he is executed immediately."_

_That wasn't exactly something anyone wanted to hear, especially in a mission briefing. "If that is true, then how am I supposed to enter the school?" _

_Ben smile widened as this was part he had been waiting for. "That's where Azmuth comes in." He said._

_All eyes turned to the small alien who had remained silent since making his presence known. _

"_Ahem." The alien began. "We are going to give you a device that will you seem like a Yokai," He explained, jumping down from the briefcase and turning to open it. "Max asked me to assist you on this matter and to make you this." Azmuth continued as he opened the briefcase to reveal what was inside. Christian was at a loss for words as he looked at the object. It was a small black watch with a green hour glass on the face. _

"_Is that a-" Christian started, still at a loss. _

"_Yep" Ben confirmed. "Christian, say hello to your very own Omnitrix."_

_Christian slowly stepped forward and took the watch from the case. He admired it and its craftsmanship quickly before strapping the device to his left wrist. _

"_I don't know what to say." Christian said, never taking his eyes of the watch._

"_Then don't say anything and allow me to explain the features that this version of the Omnitrix includes." Azmuth said a hint of annoyance in his tone. _

_Christian immediately stopped looking at his new Omnitrix and turned his attention to the smartest being in the room. _

_Azmuth, satisfied he had Christian's attention, began to explain. "This Omnitrix is like Ben's in many ways. It has the DNA of all the aliens that Ben has in his Omnitrix however you only have access to 15 of them and will be able to maintain these forms for fifteen minutes. These forms have been chosen by myself, Max and Ben here to help you keep up the appearance of a monster during you time at the school. You will be able to unlock more when a time arises that your position in the school is at a point where you will not be suspected. The Omnitrix does have a scanner but in order to avoid suspicion by turning in to your classmates, it has been deactivated. You can choose to turn it on with a command code which shall be divulged to you later, however even if it is on you must have that monster touch the Omnitrix's interface."_

"_Okay." Christian said, nodding in understanding. _

"_Furthermore" Azmuth continued. "This Omnitrix is equipped with a universal translator, meaning you will be able to understand your classmates and teachers. However this does not mean you will understand everything. The Omnitrix is unable to translate words or lettering written down on paper. Therfore, you will still have to learn Japanese Kanji."_

"_Great." Christian deadpanned._

_Amused, Azmuth continued. "As we are unsure of what these monsters are capable of, I have made this Omnitrix with a feature the prototype had. It is able to fix any abnormalities that may affect you or another, just in case you are infected by a disease that is unknown to us." The alien coughed into his hand and scowled at Max and Ben before continuing. "Upon the request of these two, I have, begrudgingly, added the evolutionary feature the Ultimatrix had to this Omnitrix. Just in case you face a threat that a normal alien would not be able to handle."_

_Christian looked back to the Omnitrix, surprised by just how much his new equipment could do._

"_Is there anything else I need to know?" Christian asked._

"_Yes. The Omnitrix has a secondary user feature. You can choose someone who you trust and they will be able to activate Omnitrix features with a command word or action. Do you understand?" Azmuth asked._

"_Yes." The teen said. "Thank you Azmuth, I will not make you regret this decision."_

_Azmuth looked unimpressed and turned away from the boy. "Heh, you had better not, you have no idea of the trouble it took to make that thing." With those last words, he disappeared in a flash or green light. _

_After Azmuth had left, Max walked over to the new Omnitrix bearer and placed a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon son, we have a lot to do before you leave in a month. You are going to need training with your new equipment, which Ben will help you get the hang of. Also you are going to need to learn Kanji in order to complete the school work that you are going to receive." _

_"Yes sir."_

_Ben came up next to his friend. "Come on Chris! Let's take that baby for a test drive!" He cried before running of towards the training rooms._

_Christian smirked, also excited. "You're on!" he called back, chasing after him._

_End flashback_

Christian remembered all of the training he had done and the knowledge he would need for this mission. He took another look at his Omnitrix. His Omnitrix. He still wasn't used to that. He was still unsure whether he was actually worthy of such power. However, if he wanted to prove himself, what better way than uniting two races.

Closing his eyes, Christian pointed his head towards the sky and said. "Mom, Dad, I'll make you proud of me. Just you wait and see."

Christian was brought out of his thoughts by the bus driver's creepy voice. "So…you gonna be a freshman at Yokai Academy, eh?" He asked, never taking his eyes of the road.

"Yes, sir." Christian answered, thankful for the Omnitrix's translation settings.

With a light chuckle, the bus driver let out a puff of smoke from his cigar before continuing. "Then you'd better prepare yourself. It's not exactly a school for the faint of heart..." He gave another chuckle as the bus entered a dark tunnel. "I hope you said all your goodbyes. Because as soon as we come out of this long, long tunnel you'll see the academy." He turned his head slightly so Christian could see the glow of one of his eyes, a sly smirk on his face. "And perhaps never see anything again."

Christian just smirked. "Can't be any worse than what I've been through in my life." He suddenly became depressed as he thought about his parents. "Definitely can't be any worse."

The rest of the journey was travelled in silence.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Within a few minutes the bus emerged from the other end of the tunnel. Once it had come to a stop, Christian got off the bus allowing him to see the area in which he would be staying for the next few years. The bus stop was on the edge of a cliff that overlooked a blood red ocean, the sky was grim and there was a scraggly forest was in view. It seemed that the entire forest was leafless and dead. A scarecrow with a sign that read 'Yokai Academy' was near him, pointing towards a building masked in shadow about a mile down a path through the dead forest. Taking in the sights, Christian gave his thanks to the bus driver and then, suitcase in hand, began to make his way towards the path.

The bus driver watched him disappear into the forest before turning back towards the steering wheel of his bus. "Good luck, kid. You'll need it." With those words, he drove away, chuckling to himself all the way.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Christian continued to walk down the narrow pathway that led through the dead forest. As he walked, he observed his surroundings. The forest was even creepier now than it had been looking at it from the outside. Tombstones littered the sides of the path and devil like crows with red eyes watched him as he walked.

"This is even freakier than I thought." Christian muttered to himself.

He was brought out of his thoughts as he heard a screeching sound and someone shout.

"Look out!"

Before he could react, Christian felt something that felt like a bicycle tyre, slam into his back, sending both him and the owner of the voice flying. The two tumbled along the ground before they came to an abrupt stop. Groaning, Christian lifted himself off the ground and did a quick check to make sure nothing was broken. Other than the pain he felt from the impact of the bike, which was all around his back, he was fine. His next concern was the girl lying face down on the ground five meters from him.

"Hey, are you all right?!" He asked as he ran over to her. The girl gave a small groan as she pushed herself of the ground.

"Ye-yeah, I think so." She answered as she looked towards Christian. At first Christian was relieved that the girl was unharmed. But then, a blush quickly formed on his face. She was easily the most dazzling girl that Christian had ever seen. She had a very pretty face and long bubble-gum pink hair that went down her back. The girl looked around his age and had a slim and slender figure. She was wearing the same uniform he was, minus the tie and instead of the trousers Christian was wearing, she wore a green plaid skirt. Her most distinguishing features were her aquamarine eyes that seemed to sparkle as the light touched them. Around her neck was a leather choker that had a silver cross attached with a red bead in the middle. Beads connected from the chain holding the cross in place and the choker.

Christian quickly realised that he was staring and snapped out of his trance. "Th-that's good." He managed to say. "Um, can you stand?"

"I think so." The girl said as she got up on to her feet slowly but stumbled slightly. Before she fell over again, Christian quickly caught her and help her stand upright. "Oh, thank you." the girl smiled at him, once again earning a small blush from the boy. "I'm so sorry for hitting you. I'm a little anaemic so I sometimes have fainting spells." She explained.

"It's not a problem, don't worry about it." Christian said, looking in to the girls beautiful eyes. For a moment, they locked eyes, and there was a small silence between the two.

It was then the girl noticed a small trickle of blood coming from the side of Christian's head. "Oh no, you're bleeding." She told him pointing to the trail of red liquid falling down the side of Christian's face.

Christian moved his hand and felt the blood. He rubbed it off and felt around his head. Finding he was not in any pain, he shrugged it off as nothing. "Don't worry about it. I'm not..." He trailed off when he saw that the girl was already holding a small handkerchief. She began to dab the spot that was bleeding, but suddenly stopped and pulled back as she began to stare at Christian, as if in a trance. She then slowly began to make her way towards the boy.

Christian gulped slightly as the girl became too close for comfort. "Um...are you okay?" he asked, slightly worried that she may have been hurt more than she originally thought.

The girl was now only inches away from his face. She was looking deeply into his eyes as she approached. The blush on Christians face became slightly brighter. "I'm sorry." She started. "It's just...you... you smell so nice."

"Th-thank you." She was now so close that he could catch the sweet aroma that originated from the girl. _'Wow. She smells so nice.'_ He absently thought, before noticing that the girl had stopped moving towards him. Strangely, she was now looking at his neck. "What are you doing?" He asked nervously.

"I'm sorry," the girl sighed softly. "But..." Before Christian knew what had happened, the girl had her arms around his shoulders and exposed a small pair of fangs. "I'm a vampire" She then dug her teeth in to the side of his neck and bit down, drinking the precious blood that came out.

CHUUU!

"Ow!" Christian yelped in pain. He struggled for a quick moment before the girl seemed to regain her control and backed away, looking mortally embarrassed. "What did I do to you?" Christian asked, moving his hand to where the girl had bitten him.

"I'm so sorry!" The girl apologised as she blushed heavily in embarrassment . She fidgeted with her fingers, trying to work out how to explain what she had done. "It's just your blood... it smelled so nice and I couldn't help myself. I really am sorry."

Christian gave the girl a questioning look, wondering if she really was sorry. "Ok then." He finally said. He continued to feel the area where the girl had bitten him. Much to his surprise, he found that it was no longer bleeding_. 'I can't even feel a mark.'_ He thought to himself as he continued to look at the girl who was now looking down at the ground, her cheeks a deep rouge. Christian lt out a deep sigh, causing the girl to look back towards him. "Do I have the honour of knowing the name of the girl who sucked my blood?"

The girls eyes widened slightly, realising she was yet to introduce herself. "Sorry, my name is Moka Akashiya" She answered with a small bow.

Christian nodded in return. "It's a pleasure to meet you Moka, my name is Christian Hawke." He then paused, "Or is that Hawke Christian over here?"

"You're foreign?" Moka asked, a small smile on her face. "Where are you from?"

"I came from the US but my family apparently originates from England." Christian explained.

"Apparently..?" Moka wondered, surprised he wasn't sure.

Christian frowned slightly. "Let's just say I didn't know my family very well, you see I'm an orphan."

Moka's face saddened upon learning this new information. "I'm so sorry; I didn't want to bring up bad memories for you."

Christian let a small smile appear on his face, touched by the girls concern. "Don't worry about it. You didn't do anything wrong." Christian had said that but now he felt really awkward. He needed something to change the subject. "So...are you really a vampire?"

Moka nodded slowly, her expression still sad with a mix of worry. "Yes I am." She then shuffled her feet slightly. "Uuum do you...hate vampires?" She asked, her eyes once again on the ground.

Christian was surprised by the question, he had never really been that good at making friends in the past and answered quickly as he didn't want to sadden the girl any further. "Of course not!" he answered quickly and a little too loudly. "I've never met a vampire before but after meeting you I'm sure they are great people to know."

Moka's face instantly erupted with joy as she jumped at Christian, pushing him over and falling on him. "That's wonderful!"

Christian looked up at the girl on top of him as his blush returned. The sunlight seemed to shine on her, highlighting her beautiful features. "If that's true, would you perhaps want to be friend?" She asked, a hopeful smile spread across her face.

Christian, stunned, gave a quick nod. "I- I guess. It would be good to have a friend here, especially if that person is as nice as you." he answered truthfully and a little too honestly.

"Really?" Moka gasped in delight, a small blush appearing from the compliment. "That's great! I was so worried that I wouldn't know anyone here!"

"At least you're in your own country." Christian said with a small grin. "I'm a long way from home; this is all new to me."

"You're right." Moka realised. Christian was thousands of miles away from his home where as she was only a couple. He was just as much in need of a friend as she was. And little did she know, she was more right than she knew.

With that the two teens got off the ground and, after fetching Moka's bike, made their way towards their new school.

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**Later on**

Moka and Christian had arrived at the school around ten minutes later. The school looked as if a combination of different castles had been mashed together. It was as long a ten football pitches and stood six stories above the ground. There was a clock tower in place at the back for all to see. No sooner had they arrived did the bell ring, telling them that it was time for the opening ceremony to begin. Christian and Moka were forced to separate as they went to their assigned places. However they promised to meet up afterwards.

After the ceremony, the new students made their way to their new homerooms. Christian was currently sitting in his seat near the back of the class. He sat right next to the window and had a 'great' view of the dead forest he had passed through earlier. Every seat in the classroom had been taken, well except for the seats in front and behind him. Christian looked around him and sighed. '_Looks like I am going to lonely this year_.' He thought absently in his head. His mind went to think about Moka. She was easily the prettiest girl he had ever seen. Even though they had promised to meet up afterwards, he would probably rarely talk to her again. With her looks and natural charm, she could easily make friends. He figured that he would easily be forgotten as she made new and more interesting friends. It made him sad to think that Moka may forget about him but that's what life is like sometimes.

Eventually the bell rang announcing the beginning of class. Everyone took their seats as a woman, Christian could only assume was the homeroom teacher, entered the room and stood behind a desk at the front of the class. She wore a white blouse with an orange shirt. She also wore a black skirt. On her feet were low heel sandals. Her hair was a sandy blonde with tufts that resembled cat ears. Despite looking at the class, her eyes seemed to be closed. A huge smile was present on her face.

"Hello everyone and welcome to Yokai Academy!" she spoke energetically. "I am your homeroom teacher, Shizuka Nekonome!"

Christian smirked. He knew he was going to like having her as a teacher. Her attitude seemed to infect the class as they let out a cheer.

"I think you all know this already, but this is a school built for the sake of monsters to learn to coexist with humans." Miss Nekonome explained as a tail popped out from under her skirt. "That brings us to our first rule; all students must remain in human form while on school grounds. And that leads us to our second one. You are not to reveal your monster identity to anyone at the school."

Christian looked to his Omnitrix, grateful that with it, he would be able to blend in.

"But sensei," The kid next to Christian growled. "Can't we just eat the humans? I could start with the cute girls." Everyone's attention was now turned to the boy. He was built like a construction worker and like everyone else, he wore the academy uniform. He had brown hair that was slicked back and a piercing just below his lips, which he kept licking as he eyed the teacher and any other person in the class that was unfortunate enough to catch his gaze.

Christian scowled at the teen. He knew his type. Self-proclaimed tough guy who believed everyone else was beneath him and weren't even fit to breath the same air. Christian hardly knew this boy and he already knew that he was never going to like him.

Miss Nekonome, however, just gave the boy a strange stare. She then took out a register and looked down the names. "Well... Mr, Saizou Komiya... you won't be finding any humans here! All of the faculty and students here are monsters!"

Taking his eyes off Saizou for one moment, Christian smirked. _'If only they knew.'_ He thought.

"And even if a human wandered in here past the barrier," she began to explain, an innocent smile forever present on her face. "...they would be put to death immediately."

Christian had to stop himself from flinching. He knew that was a rule here but he never thought the teachers would promote human-monster coexistence by killing the people they were teaching to get along with. Especially with a smile on their faces.

"Well say what you want," Komiya continued. "But ever since class started, I've been smellin a human this entire time."

This time, Christian did flinch and quickly dove his head into his hands, making it look as if he was rubbing his eyes. He was going to have to be very careful now that he knew monsters were able to pick up on his human scent.

Suddenly the door to the class slid open. "I'm so sorry I'm late. After the entrance ceremony I kinda got lost in the school." A familiar voice sounded.

"Oh that's fine," Miss Nekonome said kindly. "Just take a seat at one of the left over desks at the back."

"Ok!"

Christian looked up from his hands, only to see someone he didn't think that he would see in a while. It was none other than Moka Akashiya.

The other guys in the class took one look at Moka and went silent.

"Wh-who is that?" One of them asked, breaking the silence. "That silky hair..."

"Those huge eyes..." Another guy said.

"So...pretty...It can't be a disguise... she's just too...too..."

"BEAUTIFUL" All the guys shouted at once as Moka passed, earning them a small smile of embarrassment from the girl in question.

Christian smiled as Moka approached. He gave her a small smile and a wave as she came over. "Hey, Moka." He said.

Moka stopped and blinked as she looked at the boy. "Chr-Christian?" She stared at the boy for a few more moments. Then a huge smile spread across her face as she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around him. "Christian it's you!" She cried happily. "I'm so happy were in the same class!" she exclaimed excitedly, hugging the now bright red teen in joy.

Around them, the other guys were going mental.

"Hey! Who's that guy!?"

"How does he know her!?"

"How does he rate!?"

Beside the two teens, Saizou licked his lips, eyeing the pink haired girl who was latched on to Christian.

"This will be entertaining." He said to himself.

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After class, Moka had grabbed hold of Christian as quickly as she could and had dragged the teen out of the classroom and into halls of the academy to explore. Christian blushed as he was dragged by the girl. Moka's arm was wrapped around his and was being far too forward for his liking. However as he looked at the girl's joy ridden face, he found it impossible to ask her to let go. Every so often the girl would release one of her arms and point to something that intrigued her.

"Hey! Isn't this a cool hallway?!" She cried.

Christian could only nod as he agreed with the girl, too stunned about what was happening to him to do anything else.

As they walked, they attracted the attention of the other students of the academy. Christian could hear them not only making comments on how beautiful Moka was, but also threats towards him for being with her. Christian noticed that Moka seemed oblivious to the comments being made about them and made a mental note to watch his back from now on. Somehow he felt that he was going to need to.

Once outside, the two friends stopped at a vending machine to grab something to drink. When their respective beverages fell, the two reached to grab their drinks simultaneously. As their hands brushed against one another, they pulled back their hands for a moment. Christian could feel his face heat up for the umpteenth time that day. He cast Moka a quick glance and noticed that she was slightly red as well.

The girl turned to him and smiled. "Oh Chris, you're so silly." She said as she gave the teen a playful push. What she didn't expect was that 'playful' push would send the boy crashing in to the nearby wall.

Dislodging himself from the obstruction, Christian rubbed his now aching neck. "That girl is really strong." He said to himself.

After a moment of recovery, and an apology from Moka, the two teens sat down on a nearby bench to enjoy their drinks. As they drank they had a small chat where Moka asked Christian's thoughts about the academy.

"I have to say that it is different from what I expected." He admitted. "But I don't think I will have any real trouble adjusting. Overall, I'm glad I came here."

Moka smiled at his answer. "I'm glad you came too. If you hadn't then we never would have become friends."

"Maybe I can be your friend too, what do you think about that sexy?" A dark voice said from behind them.

The two teens turned to see Saizou staring down at them, more specifically, Moka. Christians eyes narrowed as he glared at Saizou. He knew the boy was up to no good.

Moka eyed Saizou nervously. "Um... I don't know." She didn't seem to like the looks of Saizou as he licked his lips hungrily at her.

"Oh?" Saizou mocked before he reached out and grabbed Christian by the lapel of his jacket and hoisted him into the air, causing Moka to gasp. "You don't want to hang out with me but you'll gladly hang around this wimp?"

Moka looked worriedly at Christian, who was struggling under Saizou's monster grip. Luckily, using his training, Christian grabbed hold of Saizou's wrist and pressed down on a pressure point, causing the boy to let go. Before either teen could do anything else, Moka ran over to Christian, grabbed his arm, and began to drag him away. "I'm sorry but we're in a hurry right now!" She called over her shoulder to Saizou as they retreated.

Saizou glared at the two as they disappeared inside of the school. Using his long whip like tongue, he grabbed one of the left over drinks on the bench where the teens had been and in a swift motion, crushed the can, leaving a big gooey mess on the ground.

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After their encounter with Saizou, Moka had dragged Christian up to the roof, where both were now recovering.

"Woo! That was scary!" The pinkette sighed as she turned to Christian. "Don't you think?"

"I've seen worse." The teen deadpanned, extremely annoyed.

"Really? When?" Moka asked, intrigued by Christian's answer.

The teen quickly realised that he was about to give away more then he should. "It's nothing, perhaps I'll tell you about it another time." He answered, ending the subject immediately.

There was a small silence between the two as they gazed out across the landscape of the area surrounding Yokai Academy. Moka was the one to break it.

"Thank you for protecting me back there." Moka suddenly said.

Christian turned to the girl and cocked his eyebrow. "I didn't do anything." He told her.

Moka shook her head slightly before turning back to the boy. "No, but you were about to, I could tell."

"It wasn't anything special; I would do anything to protect a friend." Christian said. "It's the least I could do."

The smile on Moka's face grew a little wider as a small blush crept onto her face. "Even so, I don't want my only friend to get hurt because of me." She explained.

"Only friend?" Christian asked. He would have thought that Moka being the girl she was would have tons of friends beside him.

Moka averted her gaze as she stepped slightly towards Christian. "Well...I'm not too good at making friends," She admitted. "And..."

"And?" Christian asked.

"You've already let me suck your blood!" Moka cried as she cupped her face, trying to hide her growing blush as she turned away from him. Christian sweat dropped, that was not the answer he was expecting. "You should be proud," Moka continued, "your blood is awesome! The texture, the aroma, the vitality and a little something I've never tasted before! Delicious!"

"That's certainly the...strangest compliment I've ever received." Christian responded, subconsciously reaching for his neck to protect it.

Moka cheerfully turned back towards her friend. "By the way what type of monster are you?"

"Isn't that against the rules?"

Realising her mistake, Moka laughed embarrassedly. "Oh, I forgot all about it. I'm sorry."

Christian chuckled slightly. "You know, you apologise far too much." Christian looked at the Omnitrix on his wrist and smiled slightly. "In any case, my situation is...a little complicated."

Moka looked at the Omnitrix with curiosity. "What's that?" She asked.

"This, um...I guess you could say it's a limiter of some sought." Christian said quickly, hiding the Omnitrix from view with his hand.

Moka's eyes grew wide in surprise. "What a coincidence!" She cried happily. "I have one too! Look!" She pointed to the silver cross attached to her choker. "This is a Rosario designed to seal away my powers." She explained. Christian took a quick look at the Rosario before turning his away because of where the Rosario was positioned…just above her chest.

"It-uh, looks cool..." Christian said sheepishly. "What happens if it gets taken off?"

"If the Rosario is removed then I would change, turn in to my true form. A powerful and terrifying vampire." Moka explained. "I can't even take it off myself."

Christian looked at Moka in disbelief. He just couldn't believe that a girl as kind and thoughtful as Moka could ever be as scary as she had described herself.

"You know, I'm sure that's not true." He responded, catching Moka's attention. "Even if you get a little scary, I'm sure you're the same Moka."

Moka's smile became wider than it have ever been. She launched herself at Christian, wrapping her arms around his neck; this caused Christian to do his best impression of a tomato. Moka backed up and Christian could see that she was blushing just as much as he was.

"You know," she started. "I am truly lucky to have a friend like you..."

"Moka..." Christian replied.

"Hey, Chris...What kind of school did you go to in America?" Moka asked. "Was it a monster school?"

"Uh...no. It was actually a human school."

Suddenly Moka tensed and released Christian. She stepped back slightly, a frown on her face. "I hate humans."

Christian froze. It felt that his heart had just been yanked out of his chest.

"Chris..." Moka asked concerned, the teen had been silent for a few minutes.

"Moka, I'm...I…have to go and unpack." Christian said slowly as he began to leave. "I'll see you later."

"Chris, Wait!" Moka called after him, but he was already gone.

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After school had ended, Christian went to grab his stuff and began to walk out of the school's main gate. With him was his suitcase and belongings.

"I guess I'm not cut out for this mission." He said to himself. "Next time they should send someone less emotional."

As he began to leave, he heard someone shout his name. He turned to see the one person he wished wouldn't see him leave.

Moka

As she approached, Christian gave her the same sad smile he did whenever he thought about his parents. "Hey, Moka."

Moka saw the luggage he was carrying and immediately became concerned. "Chris..." she started slowly, afraid of the answer to her next question. "Why do you have your bags?"

Christian let out a small sigh. He had hoped he wouldn't have to this.

"Moka, I think I need to go back home. I don't think I belong here." He told her sadly.

"You...you mean you're leaving?" Moka asked in a frozen tone.

"Yeah..." Christian admitted in a depressed tone.

"Y...You can't!" Moka cried as she grabbed Christian's suitcase and tried to wrestle it from his hands.

Their tug-of-war continued until a sharp pull from Christian brought Moka so close to him that she let go of the suitcase and held on to his jacket in order to stop him from moving.

"I'm sorry," Moka said sadly. She was on the verge of tears. "But I don't like humans very much."

Christian had to try very hard not to flinch as he felt another pain in his heart.

"They can be cruel and mean." Moka continued. "I know because I attended human schools, all the way through Junior High." Moka explained. Christian face saddened as he listened to Moka's sad past. "All through middle school everyone ignored me. They made fun of me, and told me vampires and monsters didn't exist. I was lonely, and felt so different from all of them. I even thought that it may have been better if I didn't exist."

Christian realised that Moka wasn't that different from him. Back in America, after his parents had died, he had been lonely. The other kids at school had made fun of him for having no friends and no family. If it hadn't been for Ben and his cousin, Gwen, looking after him when he was a kid, who knew where his depression would have led him. It was the same when he was training at the Plumber academy. The aliens had found him strange and weak for being a human and had shunned him despite the fact he was one of the best cadets at the academy. He also knew what it was like to want to be non-existent.

"But then...I met you Chris, and you said you didn't care I was a vampire." Moka continued, tears now streaming down her face. She wiped them away and smiled up at Christian. "And for the first time in my life, I didn't feel so alone anymore."

Once she had finished explaining, Moka looked up to see Christian staring at the ground.

"Moka..." Christian began in a sad voice. "I...I really do care about you. I hope you understand that." Moka listened to Christian's small speech, a hopeful look in her eyes, only for it to be crushed by his next sentence. "But I have been lying to you."

Moka took a small step back, confused. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"Moka..." He started. "I'm...I'm a human and I was sent here to bridge the gap between humans and monsters." He finally admitted.

Moka's eyes widened in disbelief. "What?"

"I'm human." Christian repeated sadly. "I'm sorry, but that's what I am."

Moka took another step away from him, a look of fear on her face. She pointed to the Omnitrix on his wrist. "But...you have a limiter, and besides, the barrier would have kept you out." She argued, refusing to believe that her first friend had been lying to her.

Christian put his arm on the Omnitrix. "This is something just to help me blend in. As for the barrier, that's more complicated." He explained, small tears in his eyes. He hated the fact he was doing this to Moka. "However the bottom line is that I'm a human."

Moka no longer said anything. The only thing present on her face was a look of shock and betrayal.

With one last look to the girl who had become his first and only friend at the academy, he began to walk back towards the forest leading to the bus stop. "I'm sorry Moka, I just want you to know that I really did consider you my friend." With those words he was gone, disappearing into the dead forest.

Moka watched him leave, thinking about his last words to her and everything else that Christian had told her. She thought about it for a while before she finally decided that she didn't care if he was a human or not. All she cared about was that Christian had accepted her for who she was and hadn't judged her for it. He had trusted her enough to tell her his secret. It was only fair she accepted him.

She began to run after him, following the path she had watched him take. She had to hurry; Christian had left a few minutes before her and was way ahead of her. Suddenly she heard footsteps, causing her to stop and listen. Was it Christian coming back? Her hopes were dashed when she heard a familiar voice.

"Hey there sexy, what's a damn fine babe like you doing all the way out here?" Saizou Komiya asked as stepped out from behind a tree, a sick smile on his face.

"Sorry, but I'm busy now." Moka said with faked bravery.

Saizou chuckled slightly before his body began to bulge and transform, ripping through his uniform. "Not right now babe." He said mid transformation. "Because now your mine!" With that he lunged at her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Christian was only a minute away from where Moka and the now transformed Saizou were. As he walked he was silently berating himself.

'_Stupid, idiot! What were you thinking! Not only does she now know you're human but she also knows why you're here! And now she probably hates you!' _That last thought brought another pain to his heart. Why did he feel this way? He had only known Moka for a few hours. Surely he didn't have feelings for her?

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a high pitched scream.

"That sounds like..." He began before realising that it could have only been one person. "Moka!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Moka was slumped against a tree, covered in some sort of slime. Saizou stood in front of her, eyeing her with a lustful stare. He was in his true form, taunting her.

"C'mon, babe. Transform. Why bother staying in your human form anyway?" He said, egging her on.

Moka gave him a disgusted look. "For one it's against school rules." She countered.

Saizou's body had grown a few feet and was now covered in an armoured bone ridges. His muscles had grown and his skin now had a light tan. The end of his fingertips had grown in to claws. He was an orc.

Saizou growled at her words. "We're off of school grounds now, so that rule means shit to me!" He growled as his long tongue lashed out at Moka, wrapping itself around her leg. Moka screamed as Saizou swung her around like a rag doll, eventually slamming her into another tree before releasing his grip on her ankle. Moka couldn't move, all her strength had left her, leaving her to watch as Saizou approached.

"Hahahahahaha!" Saizou cackled, enjoying her pain and anticipating what he was about to do. "Now it's time for the main event."

"Hey!"

Both Saizou and Moka turned to see Christian standing behind them, his suitcase dropped beside him as he glared daggers at Saizou.

"Well if it isn't the little wimp?" Saizou mocked. "Can't you see we're busy here? What do you want?"

"Let Moka go." Christian ordered.

"And who's going to make me?" Saizou asked.

"Chris...don't...you'll get hurt." Moka whined weakly.

For one moment, Christian took his eyes off Saizou to look at Moka. He gave her a reassuring smile that seemed to make her more relaxed.

"You don't need to worry Moka." He reached for and activated the Omnitrix, a small green ring appearing as he did so. Once the hologram had been selected, the interface of the device slid back, revealing the Omnitrix core. "Because in the words of a friend, it's hero time!" With that, he slammed down the core and was enveloped in a green light that was so bright, it forced Saizou and Moka to cover their eyes.

"Wh-what's happening?" Saizou asked. But suddenly he was sent flying back as something punched him in the face.

Once the light had died down, Moka and Saizou could no longer see Christian. In his place was a humanoid that resembled a combination between a rooster and a hawk. He had sharp claws on his toes and talons on his hands, as well as two larger talons protruding from his arms. He had a short beak and was covered in brown feathers and also had a white mohawk. It wore a green mask, a green belt with a white stripe, and black boxers. He had a strap vest with an hour glass symbol on the vest hooker.

"Kickin Hawk!" It cried out.

Moka was now very confused. Christian had told her that he was human. But, that clearly wasn't the case now. How had Christian turned in to this monster? She hadn't even seen it before or heard of any with its appearance.

Saizou on the other hand, was glaring at Kickin Hawk. "I knew you were a chicken, and this just proves it."

Kickin Hawk just smirked. "Bring it on chump." He taunted, using two fingers to egg on the orc.

With that, the two fighters ran at each other. Kickin Hawk made the first hit, punching Saizou in the chest which he then followed with a round house kick to the face. Saizou retaliated by throwing a fist at Kickin Hawk's head, however the nimble alien ducked underneath the punch and kicked Saizou in the legs, knocking him over. While he was down Kickin Hawk ran over to Moka to check on her.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

Moka stared at her friend confused. "Chris, how did you..." She started.

"I'll explain later. For now, we need to get you out of here." The alien responded.

Moka nodded and managed to get herself off the ground. However just as she managed to get on to her feet, she noticed that Saizou was also on his, and was about to throw a tombstone at Kickin Hawk.

"Chris! Look out!" She cried.

"Huh?" Kickin Hawk turned just in time to see the tombstone before it hit him in the chest and sent him tumbling along the ground.

"Chris!" Moka exclaimed.

"Ha! You got a few lucky punches but you shouldn't have turned your back punk." Saizou taunted as he pushed past Moka and walked up to the downed fighter. Picking him up off of the ground by Kickin Hawk's neck, Saizou then threw him over the side of the hill, causing the alien to roll down it.

"Chris!" Moka cried, tears in her eyes as she ran after him. She jumped and slid down the hill after the descending Kickin Hawk, Saizou following closely behind.

At the bottom of the hill, Kickin Hawk was getting off the ground. He was still in a daze from being hit with the tombstone. He stumbled around slightly before falling back on to his knees. Looking up, he managed to notice he was back at the bus stop.

"Christian!" Moka cried as she reached the bottom of the hill. She ran over and tried to help Kickin Hawk up. "Are you okay?"

Kickin Hawk nodded his head. "I'll be fine; you don't need to worry about me. I have been in tougher situations." He explained with mock bravado.

Moka however, shook her head. "I don't care! You're hurt and it's my fault!" She cried, tears once again streamed down her face.

Kickin Hawk gave Moka a weird look before pulling her into a quick hug. Moka was surprised. This was the last thing she expected him to do. "Moka, don't you ever think that." He said softly. "You are my friend, and I would do anything, and I mean anything, if it meant that it would keep you safe."

In his arms, Moka was blushing profusely. No one had ever said anything like that to her in her life. It felt right coming from Christian, even if he was in another form.

"What's with the lovey dovey bull shit?!" Saizou shouted from behind them, catching both teens' attentions. The orc was just at the bottom of the hill, about twenty meters from them. He stared at them with a sinister smile.

Kickin Hawk, knowing what was going to happen, released Moka and moved her so that she was behind him. "Saizou, if you want to get to Moka then you are going to have to go through me!" He told the orc. However, even though he may have sounded tough, in all honesty he was in pretty bad shape. He was still dazed and he was finding it hard to stand.

But he wasn't going to let that stop him from protecting Moka.

He took one step forward, but stumbled. Falling backwards he reached out his hand in order to grab something to hold him up right. However, what he grabbed was Moka's Rosario, pulling it off its chain.

"The Rosario, It came off." Moka gasped in complete shock as she was enveloped in a dark aura.

Kickin Hawk looked back in time to see a swarm of dark bats engulf Moka. The pink haired girl began to transform. Her hair turned silver and her fangs began to grow. Her body filled out more, further defining her body. Once the bats had flew away, Kickin Hawk noticed her eyes were blood red and now slitted.

Kickin Hawk looked at the Rosario, which was now in his hand. He was surprised just how easily it had come off. It was then he pushed himself off the ground and made his way over to the vampire girl.

Saizou on the other hand was frozen to the spot. "That silver hair, those red eyes, the overwhelming energy. The legends are true, she's an S-class monster, a vampire!"

Kickin Hawk smirked from beside the now transformed Moka. "Slow, isn't he?" He asked her.

The vampire however just turned to face him. "So I take it you are the one who broke the seal and released me?" She said, her voice was now deeper and slightly colder. She eyed Kickin Hawk before turning back to Saizou. "What an interesting form."

Kickin Hawk shrugged. "Trust me, this one isn't the weirdest one I have."

Moka turned back and gave him a icy glare. "You have more?" She asked. "I guess you have a lot to explain after this."

"Huh?" Kickin Hawk replied.

"You told my other self that you were human. Your current state clearly proves otherwise." The Inner Moka pointed out.

"It's complicated." Kickin Hawk said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Moka once again turned towards the still petrified Saizou. "You can explain yourself, once I have dealt with him." She replied coldly. She then did a small stretch and cracked her knuckles. "This might at least be a decent workout." Moka commented before yawning, clearly showing her disinterest.

"What's wrong with me?" Saizou muttered to himself, looking at his trembling hand. "She's only staring at me but I can't stop shaking. No, pull it together man. Because if you take down a vampire, then you will most definitely be the top dog around here."

Moka, having finished her small stretch, rolled her eyes at the orc before rushing forward. "I'm sorry for interrupting," She growled coldly. "But it's time that you LEARNED YOUR PLACE!" She finished and before Saizou knew what hit him, Moka had delivered a kick that sent him flying into the air. He was closely followed by Kickin Hawk, who had used his powerful legs, as well as a push from Moka, to follow him.

"And don't come back!" Kickin Hawk shouted as he delivered his own powerful kick that sent the orc flying towards the school, landing just behind it, causing a small explosion of dust.

Once back on the ground, Kickin Hawk heard beeping coming from the symbol on his chest, telling him that his time was up. Within seconds there was another green flash and Christian Hawke was standing where Kickin Hawk once was.

Christian turned around only to find Moka in his face pointing to the Omnitrix. "You have ten seconds to explain yourself."

Knowing it was a bad idea to go against her; Christian began explaining very quickly and told Moka everything. About the Plumbers, the Omnitrix, everything. All the way through, Moka just nodded her head, taking in the information. Her expression never changed.

Finally, she sighed. "While your story seems unrealistic, monsters are too, considered a myth to humans. So I guess that I'll believe you claims."

Christian sighed in relief, happy that he wasn't about to get kicked. He then realised that he was still holding Moka's Rosario. He timidly gave it back to her, apologising for breaking it.

Moka took it without a word. She was about to reattach it when she stopped and looked at Christian. "Hawke." She said sharply.

Christian snapped to attention. "Yes, ma'am." He answered.

The Moka in front of him smiled slightly. "Promise me to look after the other Moka while I'm asleep, okay?"

Before he could answer, Moka then reattached the Rosario to her choker, turning back into the Moka that Christian had first met in the woods earlier that day. She fell forward, unconscious, but Christian caught her.

With nowhere else to go, Christian carried Moka on his back and headed towards the dormitories, which he had seen on his way to the bus stop, making sure to stop to pick up his suitcase on the way.

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Now in his assigned room, Christian laid the sleeping Moka down on his bed. Then, while he waited for her to awaken, he began to unpack his clothes and other stuff.

Moka woke up ten minutes later. She then had Christian tell her everything that he had told her inner self. Everything about his mission and his position as a Plumber However unlike her inner self, she seemed to be very excited about the idea of aliens.

"That's so cool! You're telling me you can transform into aliens?!" she asked excitedly.

Christian nodded his head in confirmation, a small smirk on his face.

"But then if it was your job to come here, why did you try to leave?" Moka asked curiously, her head tilted in confusion.

"You see, I don't think I'm ready for this responsibility. I only became a plumber a little while ago. I was afraid I would screw up." He said looking down. Moka seemed to understand. "Also, when you told me you hated humans on the roof earlier, I was afraid of what you would think of me when you found out the truth." He admitted, still looking down.

Suddenly he felt Moka take hold of his hands. He looked up to find himself staring in to Moka's beautiful eyes.

"Chris...I'm sorry for what I said. You're the first friend I have ever had and I don't want to lose you." Moka told Christian. "I would do anything for you, just like you said you would do for me."

Christian smiled and squeezed Moka's hands slightly. "Thank you Moka. You have no idea what that means to me." He responded slightly. The two continued to look into each other eyes for a moment before they both pulled away. "Hey Moka, would you like to see the other aliens I change in to?"

Moka beamed with excitement. "Yeah, that would be awesome."

The two friends then spent the rest of the day talking about space, aliens and how cool it was that Christian was able to turn into different alien species. And as the sun set, the two friends looked forward to the next day as their new lives at Yokai Academy began.

**There you go, that's the first chapter. Please leave your review as I want to know your thoughts on this little escapee. Also if anyone wants to come up with a name for Christian's Omnitrix, please leave it in the reviews and I will choose my favourite name. **

**Thank you for reading. **


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, this is the second chapter of my new Fanfiction. I know that some of you don't like the fact the Omnitrix has an evolution feature. I am going to tell you now that I will only be used once in a later chapter, and then never be used again. I'm going to let you wait for that. Also to clear up any doubts, this is an OCxMoka story. **

**To Lewamus Prime, I want to thank you for your ideas and suggestions for the story. I am still considering on using them. However If you could contact me through the website, I would like to discuss with you a way in which I can use you your OC in a different way. This is because unfortunately the way you have portrayed Zack, slightly contradicts with Christian's back story. I do have another idea of how to include him, but I would like your permission as he is your character. Also I really like the name you suggested for the Omnitrix. I am considering using your name, however before I chose it; I am going to wait to see if anyone else will submit another name. **

**By the way everyone, Christian is going to be a little stubborn with his feelings towards Moka. Due to his past he is unsure of himself and fears what being in love will do to him. For now, read this new chapter. Hope you enjoy.**

"**..." Speech**

'**...' Quote **

'_**Hi' **_**Thought**

"**Learn your place!" **Inner Moka through the Rosario

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC. **

**Alien Watch in a Monster School**

**The Succubus and a Battle in the Sky**

It had been a week since the incident with Saizou. In that time, Christian had become the hot topic on campus. The fact that Saizou, the supposed tough guy of the first years, was beaten on the first day was huge. The rumour was that Christian had beaten Saizou. Apparently the orc had not wanted anyone to know that he had really been beaten by Moka, a girl. Even if she was a vampire, the strongest of all monsters. It made it harder for Christian as Saizou had told everyone Christian had turned into a strange birdman like creature who no one had ever seen before.

However it was a new day at Yokai Academy. In the boy's dorm where Christian lived, our semi-favourite Plumber was preparing for school. His room consisted of a small bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and a living area with a desk in the corner, although that was also a part of the bedroom. On the desk, there was a laptop. Christian used this to send his reports back to the Plumber base in Bellwood. Christian considered himself very lucky that Yokai Academy gave their students their own private rooms. This was mostly due to the fact that the other guys found it hard to keep their transformations in their sleep. The other reason was that most of the boys wanted to kill him out of jealousy for his friendship with Moka.

Once Christian was dressed and ready, he made his way out of his room and began to walk downstairs, passing the other half transformed tenants of his dorm.

'_Just another day at the academy'_ He thought to himself with a sigh.

Christian made it outside of the dorms and waited for Moka. Since the second day, the two had made it a habit to walk to and back from school together. As the teen waited, his thoughts drifted to his pink haired friend. Just like every other boy at the academy, he found Moka to be the most attractive girl at the academy. He was glad that he was friends with her but he couldn't shake a feeling he had never felt before. Just like the watch on his wrist, this feeling was alien to him and he had no idea what to do with it. Maybe he should ask Max about it as the old man might know what he was feeling. However deep down Christian believed he knew what it was, and that scared him more than anything.

His thoughts were interrupted by the shouting of some guys behind him.

"Oh, wow! It's her!"

"Yeah, that's the new student, Moka Akashiya."

"She's so hot, it's gotta be illegal."

"And she's coming this way!"

That last comment caught Christian's attention. He looked up to see that Moka was indeed heading in their direction, smiling and humming a happy tune as she walked. He also noticed that the three boys in front of him were drooling.

'_Perverts' _He thought with another sigh.

Moka, who was now only a few meters away, eyes grew wide as her smile grew even wider before she began running forward.

The three boys cheered as they ran towards her as well, wanting to give the girl a hug. Unfortunately for the three, the pinkette ran straight past them and latch on to Christian's arm, causing the boys to fall over.

"Christian! Good morning!" She exclaimed when she got to him.

Christian's reply was accompanied by a warm smile. "Morning Moka."

The three boys, having gotten off the ground, stared angrily at the two, mostly at Christian.

"Damn, that gaijin!"

"Rumours say he beat that 'Woman-Eater' Saizou, with ease."

Christian, who could hear every word the trio were saying, rolled his eyes. It had been the same routine all week. He would get up and wait for Moka to walk to school. She would come down see him and run over to say hello, enraging any male that had seen them. Then they would curse him and talk about how 'he beat' Saizou.

"C'mon, we're going to be late." Moka commented as she took her friend by the hand and began to drag him towards the school.

Behind him Christian could hear more comments coming from the boys, but at that point, he didn't really care. After they were a good way away from the dorm, Moka stopped dragging Christian's hand and they walked side by side. However, barely a minute passed before Moka tugged on Christian's sleeve. "Ummm...Chris?" She asked in an embarrassed tone, a small blush coating her cheeks.

Immediately, Christian knew what she wanted. It had also become part of his routine. Before she could ask the full question, he reached to his shirt and brought down the collar slightly, exposing his neck. "Go, on." He said with a sigh. "Drink up." He was never going to say no to her anyway.

Moka, with stars in her eyes, pulled Christian into a small hug. "Thank you!" The vampire girl said. "I overslept and missed breakfast." She explained before biting down on his neck.

CHU!

"I was always told the way to attract a girl was through her stomach." Christian commented with a sweat drop, thinking of one of Max's teachings as a kid. _'However I doubt this is what he meant.' _

Once Moka had drank her fill, she backed up and cupped her face, her blush still present on her face. "Amazing as always!" She exclaimed. "I think I might be addicted!" She confessed.

Chuckling nervously, Christian reached up to his neck. Once again no mark had been left on the skin. '_Why do I feel I should be concerned?" _Christian thought to himself. _'I'm beginning to feel like a juice box.' _He didn't have time to think on it any longer and Moka once again grabbed his arm and began leading him to school.

Little did they know, a dark figure was watching them from the shadows.

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The day drew on being uneventful. It was now lunch and Christian was sitting by the lake at the back of the school. He was waiting for Moka so they could eat their food. This was yet another routine the two had. They would come out here to talk and enjoy each other's company. However their conversations mostly consisted of Christian's time in space training and what he knew about aliens.

Unfortunately for Christian, Moka was running late today. He didn't mind though, it gave him time to think. He found his situation ironic in a way. He was in a school for monsters who were trying to appear human, whereas he was a human trying to keep up the appearance of a monster using the Omnitrix. He looked down to the watch like device on his wrist. He suspected he would be using it a lot before his time at the Academy came to the end.

Leaving.

Now that he thought about it he wanted to stay at the academy as long as possible. His mission in the long run was to promote human-monster coexistence. At the moment it seemed to be working, well kind of. Christian had managed to change Moka's opinion. If he could do that then maybe he could change all monsters opinions of humans. Suddenly his mind shifted to the Inner Moka. She may have seemed scary and cold, but somehow, he could feel kindness within her. Christian wanted to know this version of Moka better, even if it wasn't particularly good for his health. That's when it occurred to him. Both Moka's were two sides of the same coin. One compensated for what the other lacked. However, Christian couldn't help but wonder, which was the real side of Moka?

A soft moan drew the teen away from his thoughts. Christian turned to see a girl collapsed on the floor. His Plumber training kicked in and he went to help the downed girl. She wore a different variation the girl's uniform with a yellow sweater vest. She looked around the same height as Moka, with a slender figure and fair skin. She wore the same skirt all the girls wore and bunched up socks. Her hair was a cerulean blue and done up in a ponytail with a bright purple hair band. And despite not trying to look, Christian couldn't help but notice the two large features on her chest.

'_I've never seen a girl my age that big.' _He thought absently before banishing the evil thoughts from his head. Berating himself, he quickly helped the girl up to her feet. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"I think so." The girl moaned as she looked up at him weakly. "I'm just feeling really faint."

"Well come on, I'll help you to the nurses office." Christian said before leading the girl back towards the school.

"Thank- ohhh!" The girl was beginning to say before tripping up. Luckily, Christian was able to support her so she didn't fall to the ground.

"Woah, be careful." He told her, steadying the girl.

"Thank you." The girl said who, unbeknownst to Christian, was smirking. Suddenly she pressed her bust into Christian's chest.

The boy's face suddenly did the most amazing impression of a tomato, as the girl began to rub her breasts against him.

"Ohhh, I think it's my chest," the girl sighed. "It just feels different today."

"That doesn't sound good." Christian said, finally coming back to earth and pushing the girl away slightly, although his voice was a little too high. "We definitely need to get you to the nurses office." He was grateful that he had stopped her. He was really uncomfortable with such...forward actions.

"Oh thank you, you're so kind." The girl said sweetly, another sinister smirk hidden on her face.

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After a few minutes they were back on the main school grounds. The two teens were now in the outside area leading to the nurse's office.

Christian was really concerned about the girl. In his medical training with the Plumbers, he had never been told about an ailment with the conditions the girl was suffering from. Normally he would have been suspicious that the girl was lying however for all he knew this had something to do with her monster form.

"We're almost there." Christian told her calmly.

"Thank you so much for helping me." The girl said gratefully. "Most guys would have taken advantage of me in that situation."

"I'm not most guys." Christian replied with a quick smirk. "I could never do anything like that to anyone." His eyes then widened when he realised what he had forgotten to do. "Oh, I forgot to say this earlier, but my name is Christian Hawke."

"Oh, I know." The girl said with a small, devious, unseen smile.

"You do?" Christian asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, for one, you're the guy who beat up Saizou on the first day of school." Christian sweat dropped slightly. "And secondly, we're classmates." The two stopped and Christian turned to look at the girl.

He thought about it for a minute and sure enough did recognise her. This was the girl who sat behind Saizou in class and to the right of Moka.

"Oh yeah, you sit behind Saizou, don't you?" Christian answered.

The girl back tracked slightly. "I'm honestly surprised you noticed me." She confessed. "You always seem to have your eyes on Moka; I thought you hadn't noticed me."

"Moka is my friend." Christian told her. "It's not like I'm in love with her."

He was expecting the girl to say something else, but she suddenly fell forward. Christian was able to catch her in time again, noticing that her breathing was a bit heavier.

"Alright, we've wasted too much time. I'm getting you to the nurse's office now." He told her. Christian began to try to lead her into the building, but the girl didn't budge.

"Christian?"

Christian looked back to the girl in front of him. She was looking directly at his eyes, a sly smile on her face, her eyes were a beautiful mauve. "My name is Kurumu Kuruno, and I want you to be my friend." Suddenly her eyes glowed and Christian began to feel dizzy.

"Uhhh," Christian mumbled, he felt lightheaded and confused_. 'Her eyes are so beautiful.'_ He noted absently. Christian wasn't thinking straight, for some reason all he could think about was Kurumu. Suddenly the girl in question came closer, still looking him in the eyes. With sudden and uncontrolled movement, Christian reached out and pulled the girl into a hug. _'What am I doing!?" _The Plumber internally panicked before his mind lost consciousness. "Be your friend? I would love to be your friend, Kurumu." His body seemed to say on its own, tightening the hug.

This prompted a playful squeal from Kurumu. "Ooo! Christian, what are you doing?! You're such a naughty boy!" She then returned the hug, progressively enjoying every second. Finally she took a step back. "So, I heard you turned into a monster no one has ever seen before in order to beat Saizou." Kurumu commented. "Show it to me, please."

"Of course." Christian murmured before reaching to the Omnitrix and activating it and began to scroll through his transformations. Kurumu took notice of some strange icons but was only able to see them for a second before Christian came to 'his' selected choice. Slamming a hand down on the Omnitrix core, he was once again enveloped in a green light which shone brilliantly, attracting the attention of a certain pink haired girl inside the school who was passing by the area.

Once the light had died down, Kickin Hawk stood proudly where Christian had once been.

"Kickin Hawk!" He cried.

"Wow! I've never seen a monster like that before!" Kurumu cried in amazement, stepping forward and laying her hand on Kickin Hawks feathered chest. "You're so soft!" She cooed.

"What are you doing?" Kickin Hawk asked, looking down to the girl with suspicion. "And why does my head feel like it's been on the inside of a cement mixer?"

Kurumu blinked in surprise and took a small step back. "What? You're acting normally?"

"What do you mean by that?" The feathered fighter asked with a frown. "What did you do?"

Before Kurumu could answer, Kickin Hawk heard a familiar voice.

"Christian!" Both of the teens looked towards the voice to see Moka running over to them. "Chris, why did you transform?" Moka asked once she had reached them. She then noticed Kurumu. "Who are you?"

"Me?" Kurumu started pointing to herself. She had to do all she could to keep up her innocent facade and keep down her hatred. "I'm just a classmate of yours who was in trouble and needed some help." She then pointed towards the still questioning Kickin Hawk. "That is until Chris here found me. He was just helping me to nurse's office, the sweetie."

Moka then turned to Kickin Hawk, who was rubbing his under beak in thought. "Is that true?" She asked.

"Hmmm." The fighter began. "I remember helping her get this far because she was...feeling ill." He didn't want to mention why she had been 'ill'. "But what I don't remember is why I transformed." He then tapped on the omnitrix symbol on his chest and in a flash of green light was standing back in his human form. "Why did I transform again?" he asked Kurumu.

Kurumu had to try not to flinch. She had forgotten that part. "Well it's obviously because we ran into that brute Saizou on the way here." She lied quickly, an innocent smile on her face.

"What!?" The other two teens cried, looking around for said orc. "Where is he?" Christian asked, once finding nothing.

"Uhhh... Once you transformed, he said something about not wanting to be in the infirmary again and ran off." Kurumu explained, a nervous smile plastering her face.

Moka looked to Christian for the unlikely confirmation of the story. Christian however was once again in thought. "That still doesn't explain why I don't remember." He finally said.

"Well it must be the way Saizou hit you." Kurumu said.

"You just said he didn't want to fight me." Christian pointed out, becoming very suspicious.

"Uhhh...yes he did, but as he left he punched you in the face." Kurumu explained a small sweat drop on her head.

"What?!" The two teens shouted again.

"Yeah, when Saizou was about to leave and you lowered your guard; he just turned and punched you. It was so cowardly." Kurumu continued, very proud with herself for coming up with so many lies. "If you can't remember, he must have hit you really hard."

"How come I didn't see him when I came over?" Moka asked, casting Christian a concerned look.

"He must have run off into the forest over there." Kurumu said, pointing towards the woods.

"Does any of this sound familiar Chris?" Moka asked in a concerned tone.

Christian continued to rub his chin. "I don't know," He answered honewstly. "Although it would explain why my head hurts."

Kurumu's face lit up slightly, she was convincing them. "You poor thing," She said, walking over to Christian and taking his arm, prompting Moka to grimace fleetingly. "It's you who needs to go to the nurse. C'mon, I'll take you before classes start." Before Christian could protest, she looked him in the eyes, making the boy once again feel lightheaded, this time however his mind remained conscious. "Ok...let's go." Christian murmured like a zombie.

Moka froze as she watched the two begin to walk off. She tried shouting to stop them. "Hey, Chris! Wait up!"

"No," The still hypnotised Christian replied. "I don't want to be a substitute for your breakfast." That comment made Moka freeze, a look of horror on her face. Internally, Christian was also crying out in horror. _'What the hell!? Why did I say that?!'_ He internally screamed.

"She uses you as breakfast?" Kurumu asked in mock horror. As they reached the door to the school, the blue haired girl turned to face the pink haired one and smiled victoriously. "Let's go before she uses you for lunch too." With that the two were gone, leaving an emotionally hurt Moka, behind.

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In class, the three teens were sitting at their desk listening to Miss Nekonome's lecture on authors who featured cats in their work. However, none of them were truly listening. Each of them had something on their minds.

'_Why did I say those horrible things to Moka?' _Christian thought. _'I would never do that, especially to her. It has to be something Kurumu did to me. When I looked into her eyes I felt dizzy for some reason.' _He looked to his side, only to see that Saizou was not in class. '_Damn! I wanted to check with him the details of Kurumu's story.' _As Christian tried to figure out the reason for his actions and words, Moka was staring daggers at Kurumu who was sitting across from her, smirking victoriously.

'_I don't get it.' _Moka thought as she looked at the other girl. '_They only met today, so why is Chris so...clingy to her?' _

Kurumu glanced back at Moka, her smug expression growing as saw the vampire girl's troubled expression._ 'Heh, she's looking at me. Your time as school's number one beauty is coming to an end, Moka Akashiya.'_

As the lesson progressed, figurative sparks clashed between the two all the way up until the bell rang, signalling the end of school. Christian, wanting to apologise to Moka, turned around, only to see that the vampire girl had already gone.

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Out in the halls, Moka leaned against a wall, fuming as she snapped open a can of tomato juice. "That over-the-hills floozy." She steamed. "She thinks she can just use Chris as some sort of possession." She finished her drink but almost crushed the can in her hand as she continued to fume. "And then there's Chris! He's completely head over heels for her! And what was all that talk about me using him for breakfast!" Her eyes then grew sad as she thought about her first friend. "I thought he actually cared about me?" When she finally calmed down, she tossed the can away and slumped against the wall as she sighed deeply. She looked sadly at her feet. "Do I... do I really just use him like a carry-on snack?"

Moka's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. "So you're a vampire, hm?" Moka's head shot to see Kurumu sitting on the stairway in front of her, a smug look on her face. "At least, that's what the rumour is anyway." She continued before jumping over the railing, catching the attention of other passersby. She landed gracefully in a crouched position and then stood upright. The guys around the girls made several comments upon seeing Kurumu, none of which were even worth mentioning as the girls ignored them and continued their 'chat'.

"I didn't introduce myself earlier. My name is Kurumu Kuruno!" The girl announced before pointing at Moka. "And I'm challenging you to the title of School Beauty!" Kurumu declared. "In other words, I'm here to declare war on you, Moka Akashiya!"

Moka blinked a few times in confusion. "War?" She asked pointing to herself. "On me?"

"Yes!" Kurumu cried with an irritated frown which quickly turned into a smirk. You see, I've got a plan I've been working on since day one, and it's been working, thank to my 'little booby trap'. All the boys were to be falling head over heels for me, I mean; I am a succubus after all."

"A succubus!" Moka gasped. "But hang on; you can't reveal your true form like that. It's against school rules!"

Kurumu's face then turned into one of hatred and annoyance. "But...!" She continued as if Moka had not spoken. "Then you came along and all the stupid boys began drooling over you instead of over me!"

"But..." Moka started, at a loss for words.

Kurumu playfully skipped away from Moka before turning back towards her, an evil smirk on her face. "That's why I've decided to steal Christian away from you."

Moka blushed at the mention of said foreigner. "What? That's so stupid! Christian has nothing to do with this."

"Do you think I care?" Kurumu snapped back. "If it means that you will suffer then its good enough for me."

As the two girls argued, a fiery aura could be sensed between them, emphasizing the jealousy and anger the two felt towards one another. The crowd that had gathered around them could sense this, and took a step back in fear. "This is going to be one major cat fight." One of them commented.

"There you are Moka!"

Both girls stopped their bickering and turned to see Christian approaching them. The people in the crowd saw this and took another step back. "Take it back, it's going to be a blood bath." The same guy from earlier said.

"Christian..." Moka said with a smile. Despite everything, she always felt warm when she saw her first friend.

Once Christian had finally reached them, he looked at Moka with a look of shame. "Moka... I need to talk to you..."

Before he could say anything else, Kurumu ran over to the boy and brought him in to a hug, one that was not returned. "Chris, my hero!" She cried over dramatically. "It's so good to see you!"

Annoyed, Christian gently pushed the girl away from him and looked down at her. "Sorry Kurumu but I need to talk to Moka now." He said firmly.

However, Kurumu wasn't going to give up so easily. While Christian was looking down at her, she looked in to his eyes as her own began to glow. "Love Charm."She said softly.

Suddenly, Christian felt the same dizziness he had earlier. _'Damn it, not again!' _he mentally exclaimed. His body moved on its own, wrapping his arms around Kurumu, finally returning the blue haired girls hug. "I'm sorry Kurumu..." He spoke in a monotone voice. "I guess I didn't really have anything to say."

"Chris..." Moka said concerned before shaking her head. "Chris, please! You have to get away from her!" Moka pleaded.

"Come on, Moka." Christian said tonelessly. "I think she's sweet."

Making it harder for the vampire, Kurumu turned and smiled at Moka. "You know, I just noticed something. Christian, he has a really sweet scent doesn't he? Almost like a human." Kurumu pointed out. Moka's eyes widened, in shock and fear. What would happen if Kurumu discovered Christian's secret?

"I'm probably guessing..." Kurumu continued. "But that has got to be the reason you always hang around with him, right? Just so that you can suck his blood?"

"No, that's not true!" Moka cried desperately, denying the accusation completely. She looked to Christian, begging for him to confirm her words.

"But it is." Christian's body replied without his own confirmation, ripping a hole in Moka's heart. '_Shut up!' _Christian begged his body to stop to no avail. '_Don't do it!' _However Christian's voice left his lips regardless. "Maybe that's the real reason you hang out with me, Moka. I guess I really am just substitute for your breakfast."

Moka staggered backwards, tears in her eyes and her will crushed. "You're...you're wrong, Chris..." Moka said weakly as her tears finally began to flow. Upon seeing Christian's still emotionless face, she ran, crying, quietly and softly.

Kurumu smiled victoriously. She chuckled seeing the pink haired girl's tears. As Moka ran, Kurumu called after her, "See ya later, loser!"

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After the events in the hallway, Kurumu had immediately taken the still controlled Christian to the infirmary. She needed somewhere private to finish her job with Christian, to make him her slave forever. Luckily for her, the nurse was gone, meaning the two were alone. Kurumu was sitting on one of the beds in the room, celebrating her victory over her rival. _'Yahoohoo! I did it! I made little miss Moka cry her eyes out!' _She exclaimed in her head gleefully.

Beside the bed, Christian was sat in a chair, still in a trance like state. In his head, Christian was cursing himself, and Kurumu, for making Moka cry. _'I can't believe I said that, she's never going to want to see me again.' _Christian thought, and despite being unable to control the actions of his body, a lone tear rolled down his cheek.

Kurumu noticed this and realised that she was wasting her time, her control over Christian was slipping. She then jumped of the bed and pulled Christian in to a hug burying the teens head in to her chest. "Ahhh, your down in the dumps aren't you." She said soothingly as she continued to hug the boy. "Don't worry; very soon, you won't have to worry about anything, ever again."

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While this was going on, Moka was between two buildings sobbing uncontrollably. She sat with her back to the wall, her knees pulled into her with her head resting upon them. She had taken what Christian had said pretty hard; in fact she was at her peak, at this point, she felt worse than she ever had before. She had even begun wondering why she had even tried to be friends with anyone in the first place. If all she was going to do was hurt and use them, she did not deserve them.

She buried her head further into her knees and cried harder. "I don't know what to believe anymore." She said through her sobs.

Suddenly the Rosario over her chest began to glow, the red gem shined with a red slit in the centre. **"How long do you plan to sit here and mope?" **A tough female voice spoke from it, causing Moka to gasp in surprise. **"You have no time to waste." **

Moka looked down at the Rosario in surprise. "Who...who are you?" She asked.

"**I am your other self, speaking to you by using the Rosario as a medium." **The voice answered.

"But...but why?" Moka asked in shock. She had no idea that this form of communication was possible.

"**You are being deceived!" **Her other self snapped. **"That girl told you she was a succubus didn't she?! They have the ability to bewitch men through a spell known as love charm. You witnessed her perform it right in front of you!" **The voice explained.

Moka gasped in realisation. "But that means...Christian was being controlled!"

"**Did you honestly believe that Hawke would be willing to say those things to you?" **Her inner self asked. **"I can tell that he cares about you more than you think you know." **Her inner self continued, a hint of softness in her voice. **"You must hurry, any man kissed by a succubus becomes her slave for all of eternity. If she has control over one with the Omnitrix, I shudder to think what she could do." **

"Oh, no!" Moka gasped, knowing just how catastrophic that could be.

"**You must hurry! Get to him, before it is too late!" **With that final warning, the Rosario's light died down and Inner Moka fell silent.

"But where!?" Moka cried desperately. "Where can I find him?! Tell me! Tell me!" But the Rosario remained silent. Wiping away her tears, she began running all the way back to the school. "Christian, please hold on!"

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Back in the infirmary, Kurumu had sat the still hypnotised Christian on to the infirmary bed and was preparing to finish her work. However, before she was able to do anything else, she felt Christian begin to struggle. She was close enough that their foreheads were almost touching.

"What are you doing?" Christian asked with annoyance evident in his tone as well as confusion having just awoken from Kurumu's charm, despite the small blush on his face.

"Shhhh, don't move." The succubus said softly, a small blush flaring on her cheeks. She reached out and cupped Christian's face, looking directly in to his eyes. Once again her eyes glowed and Christian felt slightly dizzy as the familiar feeling washed over him. "Good..." Kurumu said as she began lean in. _'Even my heart is racing.' _Kurumu thought, blushing deep red. '_With this kiss, my plan will take its first step to being completed.' _

Inside his mind, Christian was trying to muster as much will power as possible in order to regain control of his body. '_Stop! I don't want this!' _His mind cried desperately. Kurumu was now only centimetres away. '_I'm sorry Moka." _Christian thought in despair. Images of the pink haired girl flashed through his mind. All the way from her hitting him with her bike, to the time they spent together after the fight with Saizou and finally to the tears she shed as she ran away from him and his hurtful words. All these thoughts brought another tear to Christian's face. As despair began to take him, he began to regain the feeling in his arms.

Kurumu had closed her eyes and was leaning in, expecting her lips to connect with the teen's in front of her. Suddenly, she felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her as Christian pulled her into a hug. "Wha-?" Kurumu said confused, Christian was still under her spell so why did he move.

"We are stopping this now." Christian's voice said quietly and slowly.

Kurumu's eyes widened, realising that Christian had broken free of her control. _'No, impossible!' _She thought in surprise. _'There is no way he could have regained his mind this quickly. I guess I just have to hit him with a stronger charm.'_ She began to struggle to breakout of Christian's hold but found herself unable to.

"I am not going to do this." Christian continued, silent anger being suppressed as he spoke his mind. "You made me say terrible things to my friend and made her cry. That is not something that I easily forgive." Christian made clear.

However Kurumu had begun to seethe in anger. "It's because of her isn't it?" She said quietly, before with new strength, she broke Christian's hold and pushed him back, anger and hatred plastered her face. "Is that girl really all you think about?!" She shouted at the teen. "You like her better than me don't you?! Do you have any idea what I went through for you?! Truth is, I've even done things that embarrass me!" Suddenly a powerful aura erupted from Kurumu as she began to transform. The back of her shirt ripped open as two purplish spiked folds shot out from her back, unfurling themselves to reveal a pair of demon like wings. She arched her back as a devilish, diamond tip tail whipped out. Christian noticed that her ears also became pointed as the succubus glared hatefully at him.

Kurumu jumped off the bed, but her flapping wings kept her alive in the air. Her fingernails then suddenly grew out, becoming as long as daggers.

"Kurumu, wait!" Christian cried out, reaching for the Omnitrix in preparation for the oncoming attack. "Don't do this!"

"Shut up!" The girl cried, lunging at Christian, nails outstretched. "I'm going to take everything Moka loves, and smash it to pieces."

"Get away from him!" Another female voice sounded. Both teens froze as they turned to look towards the source of the voice, only to find Moka, panting in the doorway. She then rushed forward and pushed the startled succubus in the ribs with all her might, causing the bluenette to be thrown out of the room. Kurumu crashed through the window with sizeable force, letting out a panicked scream as she disappeared into the blackened trees.

Christian stared at Moka with a mixture of admiration and fear. _'Note to self, never piss her off.' _He thought to himself looking at Moka in awe.

"Moka-" Christian started before being interrupted.

"Chris, you have to run!" Moka warned. "That's girl's a succubus; she was using a spell called Love Charm to control you."

"I thought something was strange." Christian said, nodding his head. "How did she do it though?"

"A succubus controls the minds of men by looking directly into their eyes." Moka explained. "If she had kissed you, she would have controlled you forever."

Christian's eyes widened. "That explains how she was able to easily take control of me." He grew quiet as he looked at Moka sadly. "Listen Moka, I want to-"

Christian was once again interrupted by the sound of flapping wings. Moka and Christian looked out the window to see a very angry Kurumu.

"That was quite the push you gave me there." Kurumu said with a smirk. "Let's see how you do without the surprise." Suddenly she rushed forward and whipped out her tail towards Moka.

With all the speed he could muster, Christian pushed Moka out of the way of the attack, only to have the tail wrap around his neck instead. The succubus immediately proceeded to yank the boy out of the window and into the air. "Chris!" Moka screamed as she ran out and grabbed Christian around the waste, taking her along for the ride.

Kurumu flew up high in to the air, planning to drop the two 'hitch hikers'. Once she felt she was high enough in the air, she began to loosen the grip of her tail from around the struggling Christian's neck. "This way, I won't have to deal with either of you, every again!" The succubus cried out in anger. She then let her tail go slack, allowing both Christian and Moka to plummet towards the ground.

As he fell, Christian noticed that Moka had let go of him and was closer to reaching the ground.

"MOKA!" Christian exclaimed, reaching for and activating the Omnitrix. Because of the way he was falling, Christian was unable to see the alien that was selected. "I don't care what; just give me something that can save her." Christian prayed as he slammed his hand down on the Omnitrix core. In a green flash of light, Christian was replaced with a new alien.

"Astrodactyl! BAWK!" It cried out, in a weird high pitched voice, a strange outcry following his proclomation.

Astrodactyl resembled a cross between a pterodactyl and a parrot. On his back was a strange structure that resembled a jetpack. He had a large yellow beak, green eyes, red skin, black and green clothing on his shoulders and waist, green braces around his wrists and ankles. Astrodactyl wore the Omnitrix symbol on his left shoulder.

"AHHHH!"

Astrodactyl regained focus as he heard Moka scream as she continued to fall. "I'm coming Moka!" The alien cried out to her. Suddenly, two yellow wings spread out from Astrodactyl's 'jet pack' and a weird green energy blazed at the base of the structure, propelling Astrodactyl forwards. In the blink of the eye, the alien had reached Moka. Quickly grabbing hold of the girl, Astrodactyl steadied himself in order so that, with little to no effort, they touched the ground safely.

As they did, Astrodactyl let go of Moka and his wings retracted themselves into his back. The two then shared a moment of relief, after all, it's not every day you almost fall to your death.

After catching their breath, Moka turned to her saviour. "Are you okay Christian?" She asked.

"Me? What about you?" Astrodactyl responded, looking Moka up and down for injuries. "You're not hurt are you?"

Moka blushed at her friends concern. "Ye-yeah I'm fine." Moka replied, slightly turning away from the parrot like alien to hide her blush.

"C'mon Moka, I need to get you to safety." The teen told Moka, making a small parrot noise at the end.

"No!" Moka refused. "I want to fight with you!" She cried. "Please, take off the Rosario, that way I can fight too!"

Astrodactyl nodded and moved to take off the Rosario. "I just hope your other self is in a good mood." He then tugged on it...and went pale. "Moka we have a problem...This things not coming off."

"Wha?!" Moka gasped in fear. "But that can't be; you pulled it off with ease the other day."

"Ewwww!"

The panicking teens looked upwards to see that Kurumu had reappeared.

"I think I'm going to be sick." She said, faking a gag. "Get a room, actually, you're not even going to get the chance," She then lunged forward. "Because now you're both going to die now!" She cried as she rushed forward.

"I don't think so!" Astrodactyl responded, picking up Moka bridal style. He then spread out his wings and flew up in to the air. Kurumu flew right through where the two had once been, her nails easily slicing through the trees that had been beside them. Noticing this, Astrodactyl's beak opened in surprise. "BAWK! She sliced through those trees like butter!" He exclaimed in shock.

Kurumu did a u-turn in the air until she was level with the two friends in the air. "That form of yours is quite fast." She then noticed something. "Hang on!" She shouted. "Where's Kickin Hawk? You're a different monster!" The succubus pointed out.

"Umm...I'm a shape shifter." Astrodactyl said quickly. "Kickin Hawk and Astrodactyl are just two of the forms I am able to transform into." Astrodactyl explained, hoping the succubus would believe his little lie.

Kurumu grimaced. "That's not fair!" She exclaimed. "That means that I almost had a really powerful shape shifter as my slave!" Her little pout caused Moka and Astrodactyl to sweat drop. Kurumu then shook her head at looked at the two with new determination. "This just means that it will be all the sweeter when I finally do ensnare you." She said ominously.

"You'll have to catch me first." Astrodactyl replied, before turning in the air and with a burst of energy from his jetpack, he and Moka were hurtling through the air once more, leaving a bewildered Kurumu behind.

"Get back here!" The succubus shouted as she began flying after them at top speeds. Within seconds, the girl was closing in.

Noticing this, Moka began to get nervous. "Chris, she's catching up."

"I know. BAWK! I'm letting her." Astrodactyl replied.

"What!" Moka exclaimed. "You're helping her kill us?"

"BAWK! Of course not." The alien replied with a wink. "I just think that it's time I showed Kurumu what else this form can do." Moka could only give him a questioning look as they continued to fly.

Kurumu was not right behind them, her sharp nails glinting dangerously in the sun light. "I have you now!" She confidently cried out.

Astrodactyl turned his head slightly so Kurumu could see his cocky smile, well as best of a smile he could give since it was hard to tell with a beak. "Let me know how that works out for you." Suddenly more energy from Astrodactyl's 'jet pack' began to build before it was released, creating a sonic boom. As Astrodactyl and Moka were propelled forward, poor Kurumu was sent flying back, disappearing within the trees.

With this, Astrodactyl once again headed towards the ground to drop off Moka. "Moka you need to run. It's not safe for you here." The alien told her once he had put her back on the ground.

"Why?" Moka asked, not wanting to leave her friend alone with a girl who wanted to kill them.

"BAWK! If I can't get the Rosario off then that means you can't fight and that puts you at risk." Astrodactyl explained. He then pointed to the Omnitrix symbol on his shoulder. "I don't have that long left in this form. I can't concentrate on fighting her if I'm worrying about you." Astrodactyl continued to explain. "I care about you Moka, if something were to happen to you, I couldn't live with myself."

Moka gasped, despite the situation they were in she was quite happy. Christian cared about her enough that he was willing to get hurt in order to make sure she was safe. "Chris-" she started.

"Well isn't this a touching moment?" A familiar voice said from above them. The two teens looked upwards to once again see Kurumu flying above them. She then flew down at high speeds towards the startled Astrodactyl. "It's making me sick-again!" The Bluenette shouted as she pounced on the surprised alien, dragging him across the ground with her on top of him.

"Christian!" Moka screamed.

Once the two creatures had come to a stop, Kurumu grabbed Astrodactyl head and forced him to look into her eyes. Within an instant, Astrodactyl went limp, his eyes lifeless.

Kurumu smiled and got off of Astrodactyl, allowing the alien to get up. Believing the transformed teen was back under her control, Kurumu turned her attention to the wide eyed vampire girl. A wicked smile formed on her face. "Now that your little boyfriend is back on my side, it will be easy to get you out of my way." She remarked. Then, with a flap of her wings Kurumu launched herself into the air and flew over to Moka. Before the girl had even blinked, Kurumu had flown behind Moka and trapped her in a lock hold, keeping Moka from moving.

"I guess the rumours about you being a big, scary vampire were just talk, huh?" Kurumu mocked the struggling Moka, who was fighting to break the strong hold Kurumu had on her. "You know, I think I'll have your beloved Christian kill you." She whispered in to Moka's ear, causing the girls eyes to widen even further. "I'm sure that once the charm spell wears off the poor thing will be distraught." She continued to mock. "But a kiss from a 'very' pretty girl will help him get over it. I'm sure he will be a lot more happy and 'obedient' afterwards."

"NO!" Moka cried, automatically beginning to struggle harder, desperate to help her friend. "Spare him, please, just kill me!" Moka pleaded. "I'm the one you want, let him go!"

After hearing that, Kurumu sneered at Moka's willingness to sacrifice herself for Christian's sake. "You have got to be kidding me." She remarked snidely. "Why do you care so much about him? He's just your food."

"You're wrong!" Moka shouted, getting Kurumu's attention. The pinkette stopped struggling and looked towards Astrodactyl who was standing with his head downcast towards the floor. Moka's eyes softened as she looked at the alien teen. "Chris isn't a meal for me, and I'm not doing this because of his blood! It's because I care for him! Christian is the world to me! He is my first friend and my best and I would gladly die for him!"

"Your friend?" Kurumu spat out, her anger reaching a new peak. "DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH! Guys exist to become food and slaves for us Succubi! They're meant to submit to you! And to prove this to you I will have your precious friend kill you here and now! Christian, do it!"

As she said those words, Astrodactyl began to step forward, his head pointed towards the ground. As he walked, the alien flicked his right wrist and surprised the two girls when a green whip of energy sprung out.

"You're just full of surprises aren't you?" Kurumu cooed, looking at Astrodactyl with glee. "Now, kill this vampire bitch!" She ordered.

Astrodactyl responded by raising his right wrist, the whip going out behind him as he prepared to strike. Then with one fluid motion, he cracked the whip forward, sending it flying towards his target. The girl in question closed her eyes in expectation of the oncoming assault.

However the attack never came. Moka opened one eye in order to see what had happened, only to see that the Astrodactyl's whip was connected to her Rosario. Suddenly Astrodactyl raised his head, allowing everyone to see his kind eyes and best attempt at a smile.

"What the hell!" Kurumu exclaimed. "I ordered you to kill her, so do it already."

Astrodactyl ignored the succubus's outcry and continued to look at Moka warmly. "Thank you, Moka. BAWK! I'm sorry if I scared you, but I want you to know, what you just said, goes both ways. BAWK! I care for you, just as much as you care for me..." Astrodactyl stated.

"Chris..." Moka started, tears of joy in her eyes.

"And that means," Astrodactyl gave the whip a tug, pulling off the Rosario. "I would gladly die for you as well!"

Kurumu was forced to let go of Moka as she was smothered by a devastating killing aura, pushing her back and making her fall to the ground.

"But-but how?" Kurumu asked in shock, looking up to Astrodactyl. "You were under my control. How did you break free?"

"I was never under your control." Astrodactyl replied with what appeared to be a smirk. "Here's a fun little fact about what kind of...uh...monster I am currently." Astrodactyl began to explain. "Astrodactyl's species travel at such speeds through the air that it becomes hard to see. Therefore, they have a membrane over their eyes in order to protect them. This means that when you looked at me earlier..."

"I never looked you directly in the eyes. That membrane was stopping my charm from reaching you..." Kurumu finished.

"Yep" Astrodactyl confirmed. Suddenly the Omnitrix symbol on his shoulder began to flash and beep, signalling the end of his time. In a flash of green, Astrodactyl was replaced with Christian. "However it's her you need to deal with now." Christian said, pointing to the mid transformed Moka.

Kurumu turned her gaze towards Moka and watched as her hair turned from pink to sliver, her body filled out and her eyes turned blood red with a slit in the middle. Kurumu looked at the newly transformed Inner Moka with fear. "Th-the rumours were true, you're a vampire."

Inner Moka said nothing as she stared at the Succubus with a cold glare, her expression emotionless. "What's wrong? I thought you wanted to kill me? Don't tell me you're scared?" Inner Moka mocked.

Kurumu growled angrily. With new determination, she launched herself into the air. "I won't lose, I can't!" She shouted at Inner Moka. "I shoulder an important mission for my people! The race of Succubi is dying out! Therefore, each female has one great mission: to find a worthy male, capable of fathering her offspring!"

"Wha...?" Christian questioned, now seeing the bigger picture of Kurumu's actions.

"That's why I tried to enslave the boys at the academy! That's why I tried to enslave Christian!" Kurumu continued, tears welling up in her eyes as she thought about her people. "Surely one of them is monster enough to be my destined one, to be my 'mate of fate'!" She then glared angrily at Inner Moka. "But you ruined all that Moka!" She then flew forward at high speeds. "Now you're going to pay for that!"

"That's why you picked a fight with me?" Inner Moka said angrily, disappearing from view before reappearing behind the surprised Succubus.

"You're fast!" Kurumu gasped.

"And you're slow." Inner Moka retorted, grabbing hold of Kurumu's tail. "I think it's time you learned the true power of an S-class monster." She then swung Kurumu around in mid air before throwing her higher in to the air. Inner Moka touched the ground briefly before once again going after the Succubus. Once she had reached her level, she brought around her leg and delivered a powerful kick to Kurumu's stomach. "LEARN YOUR PLACE!" She cried as she sent Kurumu flying towards a nearby tree, causing the girl to crash into it before falling to the ground.

"Yes ma'am, I'm sorry, I won't do it again." The injured Kurumu said weakly, stifling her tears.

However Inner Moka wasn't happy with that answer. As soon as she had touched the ground again, she began walking towards the frightened Succubus.

"I have no assurance of that." Inner Moka hissed as she walked forwards. "Therefore, I'm going to rip them off. Your wings and your tail that is, so that you will never fly again."

Kurumu began to shake in fear of Inner Moka, more tears forming in her eyes as she whimpered, "N...no, not that please..."

"Moka, stop!" Christian shouted from behind Moka, moving forward so that he came between the two girls.

Inner Moka sneered in annoyance. "Get out of the way." She then pointed towards the startled Kurumu who had been eyeing Christian with confusion when he had stepped in. "Not only did that girl trick you, but she tried to kill you as well." She pointed out.

Christian nodded his head. "I know that." He stood firmly, not moving an inch. "However she has been punished for that, both by me and you." Inner Moka raised an eyebrow at that statement. "Ok, mostly you." Christian admitted. "But she has had enough. Look at her, she can barely move at the minute." He gestured towards the trembling Kurumu behind him. "Anything you do from this point on is torture and you know that. And if you wish to continue then I'm afraid you will have to go through me." He stupidly threatened Inner Moka, his hand already on the Omnitrix.

Inner Moka's gaze never faltered as she glared at the boy in front of her. Finally she let out a sigh and Christian relaxed. "Unfortunately you are right." She admitted. "However how do I have any assurance she won't try this again?"

"You heard Kurumu yourself. Her intentions weren't malicious in anyway." Christian pointed out, causing Kurumu's eyes to widen; surprised Christian was defending her as he was.

"Oh, really?" Inner Moka countered, once again pointing at the succubus. "And how do you know that?"

"Because you know that too." Christian answered a small smile on his face. "You two are more similar than you think." The Vampire girl once again raised her eyebrow.

"And how is that?" She asked in annoyance. She did not like being compared to a lower class monster.

"Because when I look at both of you, I can see that you two, despite how you may act, aren't bad people at all." Christian said, cautiously stepping towards Inner Moka and placed the Rosario in her hand, looking her gently in the eyes. "Right now you just look bad...So please...Don't prove me wrong. Let's try and get along with Kurumu, as friends."

Kurumu could no longer hold in the tears. The shock that Christian was saying these nice things about her despite the succubus's earlier actions was too much for her. She began to cry in a mixture of sadness and happiness, and no matter how many times she wiped her eyes, the tears kept flowing.

Upon hearing the girl's sobs, Inner Moka's eyes softened. She closed them and let out a small smile. She then looked at Christian and responded, "Friends?" She asked before she brought her right hand up to her choker, the Rosario in her hand. Before attaching it, she cast Christian one more look, a smirk on her face. "You misunderstand Hawke; I just didn't want her to steal your blood from me. That was it, I'm not like your other Moka."

Christian cocked an eyebrow, returning the smirk she had given him with one of his own. "Keep telling yourself that. I think you'll find yourself happily surprised."

Inner Moka shook her head as she snapped the Rosario back on, undoing the transformation and returning to the normal Moka. The girl then collapsed forward, only to be caught by Christian in the process. Christian smiled as the girl slept peacefully in his arms. However a question appeared in his head that he knew would bother him for as long as he attended Yokai Academy: which one of the two, was the real Moka?

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By the next day, things had returned to normal. Both Moka and Christian walked to school as they normally did; they hadn't seen Kurumu since the previous day.

As the two walked, Moka told Christian how she knew he was in danger. It was no surprise Christian was shocked to hear her story. "The Rosario spoke to you?"

"Yeah, it was kind of surprising." Moka admitted. Her expression turned into one of worry as she nervously spoke her thoughts. "Christian, if the Rosario stopped working... would you...still like me?" She then realised what she said and blushed madly. "You know as a friend!" She exclaimed quickly waving her arms.

Christian chuckled at his friends antics and gave her an honest smile. "Moka I don't care if you get a little scary sometimes. I told you before and I will tell you again; you will always be someone I care about."

"Really?" Moka gasped, her blush never fading. She was touched by his words and could feel her heart rate accelerate.

"And besides," Christian continued. "Though she won't admit it, I consider both you as my friends. I care for both of you." Christian blushed slightly as he said his next words. "I don't want either of you to get hurt."

"Chris..." Moka gazed at him and the two stood still for a moment, looking at each other in silence, enjoying each others company.

Of course the moment was ruined by an unexpected person.

"Good Morning!" Shouted Kurumu, as she suddenly appeared next to the two; causing the teens to break their moment. Christian and Moka noticed that she had a cheerful expression on her face and a small basket on her arm.

"Uh...Good morning Kurumu." Christian replied slowly, pondering the girl's motives for coming to them. "What do you have there?" He asked, pointing to the basket.

"Oh these," Kurumu gestured to the basket. "These are just some cute little cookies I made for us. Let's eat them together."

Both Moka and Christian were shocked by Kurumu's statement. Christian pointed to himself and said. "That's nice, but...uh...why me?"

Kurumu blushed a little and turned away, a playful smile on her face. "Oh come on. Didn't I tell you that I was looking for my destined one?"

Both Moka and Christian nodded their heads.

"Well I've decided it's you!" Kurumu declared, pointing at Christian.

"WHAAAAAA!" Moka and Christian shouted out.

Kurumu suddenly ran over and hung on to one of arms. "It's your own fault you know." Kurumu told him. "Seeing that you risked your life to protect me; I'm totally in love with you." Kurumu admitted, trying to snuggle her way closer into Christian's side.

Moka growled before she too grabbed onto Christian's free arm and began to pull the teen away from Kurumu. "You barely know him! You can't just fall in love with him on the spot! He can't be your destined one!" Moka shouted at the Succubus.

"I can too, and he is so!" Kurumu frowned as she pulled Christian back towards her. "He's mine!"

Christian frowned as he got a headache as the two girls played tug of war with his arms. What had he gotten himself into?

"No, he's mine!" Moka cried, lunging at Christian's neck. "Chu!"

"OW!" Christian exclaimed as his blood was sucked. "Why is this happening to me?

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter; I worked hard to make it good. Please leave you reviews, as always I welcome all. I will see you next chapter. If anyone has any preferences to the aliens you want to see Christian turn into next chapter just leave it in the review box. Bye!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Hello again, I have another chapter for you. I want to apologise to any Yukari fans as in this story she will be OOC. This is because I find her attitude towards Moka to be wrong. It's not because she's a girl, it's because of how old she is. I find it creepy that an 11 year old knows about 'those' kind of things. She is still going to be attached to Moka, just in a different way. I'm sorry if anyone doesn't like this but it's my decision. And I have also changed my mind about the evolution function the Omnitrix has, it will be used more than once before it is removed. I have plans. And to Lewamus Prime, your Christmas present from me is included in the chapter, Merry Christmas. **

**Today you are going to be seeing a side of Christian that I bet you wouldn't expect him to have. I hope you like it.**

**Also this story will be on the hiatus until after the 16****th**** January because I have my mock exams from the 6****th**** until then. This means I will be revising over Christmas. So as you can see I will be having 'fun'. **

**Other than that, enjoy and Merry Christmas!**

"**..." Speech **

'**...' Quote **

'**H**_**i' Thought**_

"**Learn your place!" **Inner Moka through Rosario

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC**

**Alien Watch in a Monster School**

**Loves a Witch**

It was the day after Kurumu had declared her love for Christian. In that short amount of time, much to both Christian's and Moka's annoyance, she had stuck to the boy like glue. It wasn't that Christian didn't like Kurumu; it was that he liked his space. Whenever the two were separated, as soon as Kurumu next saw him, she would automatically run over to the boy and pull him into her chest and near suffocate him in one of her 'love hugs'. He was happy with the fact they were now friends but he wished she could be a little less open about her feelings. Christian was sure that, despite what Kurumu claimed, this was only a passing crush. However with her affections turned towards him, the other guys at the school were now even more jealous of the attention he was getting from the two school beauties. It had also increased the amount of death threats he had been receiving on his way to school from jealous guys.

Then there was Moka, who had been acting very strangely over the past day and a half. She seemed annoyed whenever Kurumu came up to them, almost as if Kurumu had ruined something. And then whenever Kurumu had pulled Christian in to a hug or hugged on to his arm, she would get upset and grab Christian's free arm and begin a tug of war with Kurumu using the teen's arms as the rope. The only place Christian managed to find any peace was in his dorm room, which was where he was now.

Christian sighed as he sat down at his desk and looked out the window towards the dark obsidian sky. He couldn't stop thinking about his new friends and how strange his life was becoming. With a content smile, he turned back towards the desk where his laptop lay open, the screen displaying a special video chat site designed specifically for Plumber use. With this, he could reach any plumber base in the universe.

'_Isn't alien technology grand?' _Christian thought to himself with a smile as he waited for the receiver of the call to answer.

A few moments later the image on the screen changed to show the face of Max Tennyson. Christian smiled and saluted the man on the screen. "Magister Tennyson." He greeted.

Max looked a little annoyed by the greeting. "How many times have I told you just to call me Max?"

"Quite a few." Christian answered with a small smirk. "Would you like to hear my report?"

Max chuckled, although he still seemed annoyed. "It's always business when it comes to you." He replied. "How about you tell me a little bit about how you're doing at school?"

"Fine." Christian replied with a sigh before he began to tell Max about his recent school activities and what he had been doing recently. He also filled him in on the events with Kurumu and how she was now his friend. "Today, we were told we have a collection of midterm tests coming up to prepare us for future tests that we may have." Christian said as he finished explaining.

On the screen, Max's face was a mixture of humour and seriousness. "Sounds like you have some studying to do." Christian nodded. "Ok then, now for the serious bit. What is the process with bridging the gap between the two races?" Max asked.

Christian moved his hand to his chin and leaned back in his chair and thought about his original mission. "Process has been slow. It seems that many of the monster species here dislike humans due to the stereotype that they are 'weak' and forced monsters into hiding. I reckon that it will take a long time to fully build up monster trust for humans."

On the screen, Max nodded his head in understanding. "That's understandable considering the violent history between humans and monsters." He said before a small smirk appeared on his face. "Although from reading the written reports that you've sent us, it appears you've already managed to change the mind of a one of your friends." He said with a knowing smile. "Now how did you do that?"

Christian turned bright red, embarrassed that he had to talk about Moka to the man who had been a father figure to him. "Well-uh-you see...well..." Christian stammered as he tried to stop his blush.

Max laughed at the boys random spluttering as Christian struggled to get out any words. "I see I hit a soft spot." Max said, rubbing salt in the wound. "But I would still like to know how it happened."

So, despite his embarrassment, Christian told Max everything about what had happened on his first day at Yokai Academy. How he met Moka, how they had become friends and about the fight with Saizou. Christian even told Max how he had revealed his identity to her.

At first Max was angry that Christian had compromised himself like that, but then his tone softened when he learned Moka was his closest friend at the academy and that she was keeping his secret in order to protect him. After Christian had finished explaining; Max remained silent for a few moments.

"That's quite the story..." Max finally said. "This, Moka, sounds like someone very close to you." He stated. _'Maybe she can be one to mend the cracks in your heart.' _ He added in his head.

"She is." Christian replied with a whole hearted smile.

"Hmmm... I would like to talk to her." Max suddenly said.

"Wha...?"

"I need to make sure that she understands the importance of your mission and that your identity remain a secret." Max explained.

"But-" Christian started.

"That's not a request Chris." Max said sternly.

Christian looked at Max in defeat. Looking at the ground, he answered, "Yes sir, however may I ask that it be after the tests. She doesn't need the stress with them coming up."

"I can understand that." Max said with a nod.

"Ok then, I'll ask her sometime after everything calms down." Christian replied.

"That's fine." Max responded with a smile. "Well then, I'm going to let you get some rest now. With your tests coming up you're going to need it."

Christian returned the smile. "Yes sir, good night." Just before he turned off the screen, he cast one last look at Max. "And Max, it was good to hear a familiar voice."

Max smiled as the screen went black.

Turning off the laptop, Christian decided to get ready for bed. After a wash and a small amount of studying, Christian began to change but stopped. He looked out his window, across to the girl's dorms. More specifically, the room that was parallel to his. That was Moka's. By some twist of fate, they had ended up as neighbours. Every so often, they would talk to each other using a pad of paper to send their messages. Judging by the fact her light was off, Christian assumed Moka was already asleep. Deciding to follow suit, Christian changed into his sleeping attire, consisting of some bottoms, turned off the light and went to sleep.

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It had been a week and a half since then. The midterms were now over and done with and today the students were to learn the results of their hard labours. Christian was making his way downstairs from his dorm, ready for the drama that would greet him. His new and begrudged routine was that as soon as he made it downstairs, either Moka or Kurumu would show up and glomp him right before the other one would show up and fight the other girl that got to him first.

This morning it was Moka who appeared next to him, smiling politely. "Good morning, Christian." She greeted.

"Morning, Moka." Christian said, returning the smile.

Within seconds, a small blush appeared on her cheeks and she began twiddling her fingers "Umm...Chris?" She asked nervously.

Christian sighed, knowing exactly what she wanted. Moka had started wanting to suck his blood more these days. He honestly wasn't sure if she was addicted to his blood, or if it was her own unique way of to get closer to him. He hoped it was the latter.

CHU!

Next thing Christian knew he had Moka chomping on his neck. Apparently she hadn't waited for an answer. Eh, he wouldn't have said no anyway.

'_Should I be worried that this is no longer even close to causing me any kind of pain?' _Christian thought as the girl drank his blood.

Once Moka had her fill, she pulled away, her blush still on her face. "Thank you Christian! It was amazing as always!" She exclaimed.

Christian just smiled awkwardly but didn't say anything. Suddenly he felt something soft press against his back and a pair of arms wrap around his neck. Since Moka was in front of him, it could only be one person.

"Morning, Kurumu." Christian said, looking over his shoulder to see the blue haired succubus pressed against his back.

"Hello, sweetie," Kurumu purred. "So, I probably know your answer but-" Kurumu began before Christian interrupted

"Kurumu, for the last time, I'm not sneaking into your room at night or letting you into mine." Christian said sternly, exasperated by the succubus's methods of trying to seduce him.

"C'moooonn...Please?" Kurumu asked, playfully pouting.

"No!" Both Christian and Moka shouted together.

"Damn..." Kurumu sighed, reluctantly releasing Christian as the three began to walk to school together.

The three talked as they walked, chatting about plans for the weekend or how well they believed they were doing in there other subjects, which in Kurumu's case was not very well.

They had been walking for a few minutes when Moka thought of something. "Hey aren't they posting the midterm results today? She asked, earning a small nod from Christian. "How do you guys think you did?"

Kurumu suddenly looked disheartened. "I don't want to talk about it..." She said through a grimace.

"I'm not too sure myself." Christian admitted.

"I'm sure you did well Chris." Moka said cheerily.

"Totally." Kurumu agreed. "I mean you are always paying attention in class and making all those notes."

"I've always been like that. It's honestly just a lot of hard work." Christian said modestly.

What he didn't tell them was that he was working hard because he had promised his parents he would get a good education in order to get a good job and make something of his life, just like they did in the Plumbers. Even though he too was now an agent, Christian still kept that promise while he was at school.

"I hope I do well." Moka commented, bringing Christian out of his thoughts. He looked at Moka only to see that she was looking back at him, a smile on her face. "Do you want to go with me and look at the scores later during lunch, Christian?"

"Sure, it could be fun." Christian replied.

"I'm going too!" Kurumu shouted, latching on to Christian's right arm, almost protectively.

"I'm sorry, but I invited Christian, not you!" Moka responded, grabbing hold of Christian's left arm.

"I'm not leaving my 'destined one' alone with you!" Kurumu snapped back, giving Christian's arm a tug towards her. "You would suck his blood and drain him the first chance you get."

"I would not!" Moka countered. "Christian is my friend, not my food substitute!" She then pulled Christian back towards her.

Christian sighed, knowing exactly what was going to happen. Instead of being used as a rope he walked forwards, dragging the two girls along with him.

"How about we get to school before you two make my arms sore again." He said as he pulled them along.

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At lunch Christian and the girls made their way to the schoolyard plaza. As they approached they could see the other students looking for their own scores that were posted on a collection of boards in the centre of the plaza. After the three arrived they went to look for their own scores.

"I'm number 13!" Moka cried in surprise. "Yay!" She cried once more running over to Christian to show him. "I knew that extra studying paid off!"

"Congratulations." Christian replied, happy for his friend. He then continued to scour the board for his own name. "I can't seem to find mine." He trailed off.

"Hmm... have you looked over here?" Moka asked gesturing towards the side of the board she was in.

"I doubt I'd be up there." Christian deadpanned still looking towards the middle of the names.

"Oh come on, you put yourself down too easily." Moka said reassuringly, taking his hand and pulling him over towards the area where her name had been. "Let's just have a look."

"Fine... but I doubt that I will be..." He stopped as he looked at the board, finding his name among the names that were written. "I'm 18th!" Christian exclaimed surprised.

"See, I told you that you didn't have to worry." Moka commented.

"I guess you were right." Christian replied. "Although I still have a little way to go before I catch up with you Moka. You're the gifted one."

Moka blushed slightly, but before she reply, a cry rang out across the plaza catching everyone's attention.

"No! 288th!" Kurumu's screech reached everyone as she looked at her test score.

"I suspect Kurumu didn't do so well." Christian commented.

"I suspect not." Moka replied with a sweat drop.

Kurumu then forgot all about her ranking and automatically made her way over to Christian and begged him to tutor her, offering a rather suggestive reward in return. This made the now blushing Moka scold Kurumu for saying such things while Christian stood away from the two, tryng his best to forget the offer the blunette had made.

As this was going on, the trio failed to notice a young girl make her way over to the score board. She looked to be around eleven. She had a slim figure and clear skin. She had short brown hair that reached down to her chin and violet tinted eyes. She wore the uniforms plaid skirt, but she had yellow stockings with garter belts on them. She wore brown shoes on her feet. She also wore an electric pink, sleeveless, turtle neck shirt with a brown corset and a yellow bowtie. A small brown cape adorned her back that went down to her ankles. She had wrist couplings and a witch's had on her head. She seemed to be nervous, but still looked at the board. She was relieved to see her name as number one on the board.

"Ah, Yukari Sendo." A gravelly voice said from behind her. The three guys standing behind her.

The one who spoke was a teenage boy who was wearing the school uniform, minus the jacket and tie. He had dark skin, as if it was tanned. His eyes were slightly sunken in to his head while his hair was almost white. His two cronies were next to him, one chubby and the other thin. Both had pale skin with greasy hair. They shared the same style of uniform and the same sunken eyes as the first teen. The leader had an armband on his arm that designated him as a class representative.

"Class Representative?" The girl asked timidly.

"As usual, your scores are at the top of the class." The representative said snidely looking up at the scores before turning to the eleven year old. "However, don't let it go to your head."

"Huh?" Yukari said.

"For example, your outfit!" he cried pointing a finger at her to make his point.

The chubbier or followers, eyed her up and down and chuckled perversely. "That uniform is against school rule. You should take it off."

"But this was a gift from my parents." Yukari defended nervously, taking a small step back.

The Class Rep shook his head in mock disapproval. "As your class representative, the fact that you're even here is enough to give me a headache. So save me the sob story, _witch_." That last word came out as a hiss.

The Rep and his goons all laughed, making the girl angry. Behind her, a pink heart-shaped wand with a blue pentagram appeared out of nowehere. The star glowed when she twitched it. Suddenly from out of the air, three golden wash pans fell and crashed into the rep and his cronies' heads, causing the three to fall to the ground in pain.

Yukari laughed aloud, pointing at the three. "Hahahaha! Serves you right you jerks."

The Class Rep snarled, glaring daggers at the girl. His eyes started to become yellow, and his fingertips became black and sharp. "Why you..." He snarled before charging at the girl, who was now frozen with fear. "I'll teach you to mess around with me, you prepubescent brat!"

Yukari closed her eyes waiting for the blow. But it never came. Slowly she opened her eyes and was shocked to see Christian standing there, holding on to the Reps wrist, anger paving his features.

"You know, I think it's time you backed off." Christian advised dangerously.

"Oh yeah?" The rep mocked.

"Yeah, no need for someone to get hurt." Christian retorted.

"You mean you?" The Rep asked, smirking.

"I mean you and your goons back there." The Plumber teen warned, making the rep's smirk instantly disappear.

The Class Rep growled, angry that his prey was being taken from him, by the gaijin no less. "Listen to me punk, it three on one. You may have taken down Saizou, but you can't take us on in numbers. Besides, this is none of your business!"

"You made it my business when you began harassing this kid!" Christian countered. "Do you honestly think I'm going to just let you bully her when she can't fight back? I was taught better than that!"

"Do you even know what that girl is?" The rep hissed. "She's nothing but a filthy witch!"

Christian's glare would have terrified a smarter person. There was so much hatred in his eyes at that point it was unbelievable. "Do you think I care?! I happen to be good friends with a witch!" he shouted, thinking of Gwen Tennyson, one of his only friends as a kid and Ben's superpowered cousin.

The Rep growled again as the other two boys stepped forward. "Boys, looks like we need to show this...sympathiser, what happens to those who decide to side with witches."

"Christian!"

Yukari and the three bullies turned to see Moka and Kurumu running over to them. "What's going on?" Moka asked.

"These jerks decided it was a good idea to pick on this girl and this one nearly transformed to take a swipe at her." Christian replied, never taking his eyes of the Class Rep, keeping his wrist in a death grip.

"That's so cruel!" Moka cried, glaring angrily at the class rep.

"Let's teach them a lesson!" Kurumu exclaimed, pounding her fist in to her palm.

The Class Rep let out a frustrated growl. He was sure that he and his cronies could have taken Christian and the witch, but now that Moka and Kurumu where there, he wasn't so sure. Not to mention that this little 'spat' had attracted some attention. "Let's leave these sympathisers and the witch alone guys." He finally said to his cronies. He tried to leave but Christian was still holding on to his wrist. "Want to let go gaijin?"

"Not until you apologise to her." Christian replied, motioning to Yukari.

"And if I do-Ahh!" Before he could finish, Christian had twisted his wrist causing him pain. "Fine! I'm sorry!" He shouted out before Christian stopped twisting. However he didn't let go. "I said sorry, now let go!" The Rep said angrily, trying to retract his wrist.

"Not before I do this." Christian said before pulling the wrist towards him with his left hand, bringing the rep closer to him then delivering a punch right between the guy's eyes, sending him flying back. This shocked everybody; they had never seen Christian so angry before.

As the Rep was getting to his feet, slightly disorientated, Christian walked towards him and said to him, "If I ever hear or see you try that again, with anyone, you will have to answer to me. Do you understand?"

The Class Rep nodded his head slowly, both angry and humiliated. With that he and his goons slipped away.

Moka slowly walked up to Christian, worried about him. "Chris?" She asked touching his shoulder.

Christian turned to her, a wary smile on his face, his anger automatically diminished by seeing Moka. "I'm okay..." He said, although it didn't sound convincing. He then turned to face Yukari. "You okay?" He asked her.

The girl just shook her head, still in shock.

"Maybe we should head inside." Moka offered, concerned for the young girl.

They all silently agreed. However as they made their way inside, someone walked up and tapped Christian on the shoulder. Turning around, Christian came face to face with a grinning boy. He had black hair that was long and slightly spiky. He was quite thin with a little build up of muscle on his arms. His skin also had a light tan. His eyes were sky blue but Christian noticed a small scar over his left eye. He wore the complete male uniform.

"Hey man, that was awesome!" He exclaimed clapping Christian on the back.

"Uh...thank you." Christian replied, confused as to why this student had approached him.

"You totally showed those guys who was boss!" The stranger continued, oblivious to the awkward situation he had put Christian in. "You are completely the man, bro."

"Thanks...urr?" Christian started.

"Oh right, I didn't introduce myself did I." The stranger realised, slightly embarrassed. "The names Zackery Orion, but you can call me Zack."

"Okay, it's nice to meet you Zack." Christian replied with a smile, extending out his left hand for a hand shake. However Zack suddenly grabbed the arm and began to admire the Omnitrix.

"Cool gizmo you got there." He commented, stars in his eyes. "Where did you get it, what's it do?" He asked excitedly.

Christian withdrew his arm and held on to where the Omnitrix was protectively. "It's...er...my limiter." He said quietly.

"Ohhh, how powerful a monster are you that you need a limiter?" Zack asked.

"Isn't that against the rules?" Christian replied.

"Yeah I guess." Zack admitted disappointedly.

"Umm... I have to go and catch up with my friends, but it was nice meeting you." Christian replied gesturing to his waiting friends.

"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry for keeping you." Zack apologised before a smile appeared on his face. "Hey, maybe we could hang out sometime." He suggested.

"Maybe..." Christian replied, a little unsure about his answer.

His answer seemed to be enough for Zack though who was now grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Cool, we can hang out and go lady scouting." He then began to run off before Christian could protest. "See ya later Bro!" He called as he left.

"Wait!...and he's gone." Christian said weakly as he watched the boy go. Sighing he made his way back to the girls, who were waiting for him.

Upon reaching them, the four fell into step as they walked towards the cafeteria. As they walked Moka turned to ask Christian something. "Who was that guy you were talking to back there?"

"He was called Zack. He seems to be a nice guy." Christian told her.

"Maybe you two could be friends." Moka commented.

"Maybe..." Christian remarked, thinking about Zack and his friendly attitude. _'Perhaps I will take him up on his offer. Moka and Kurumu are great but it honestly would be good to have a guy to talk to every once and a while.' _

With that thought, the four continued to make their way towards the cafeteria.

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Once they had finally reached the cafeteria, Christian, Moka and Kurumu sat Yukari down at a table and got her a drink while they waited for her to calm down. Once she was finally calm, they began to have a friendly chat.

"My name is Yukari Sendo. It's nice to meet you." Yukari introduced herself.

"It's nice to meet you, Yukari. My name is Moka Akashiya and I must say your outfit rocks." Moka said with a smile.

"I'm Kurumu Kurono." Said girl chimed in.

"Christian Hawke. It's a pleasure to meet you." The Omnitrix teen introduced.

"I've heard of you guys." Yukari said. "The schools two most popular girls and the American Doppelganger who is able to transform into a collection of different monsters no one has ever seen before."

Another thing that had changed over the past few weeks was that now everyone thought he was some kind of 'super' Doppelganger. People had seen his fight with Kurumu as Astrodactyl and the rumour had spread like wildfire. Now they all believed the Omnitrix was his limiter that sealed his powers, like Moka's Rosario. Exactly how the Plumber's had planned.

"By the way, Yukari, you seem awfully young. Did you skip a few grades?" Moka asked the witch curiously.

"I skipped four grades." Yukari boasted. "I'm the smartest girl in this school!" She then looked at Moka and grew slightly nervous. "Although I'm nothing compared to you Moka." She added quietly.

"Four grades?" Christian questioned. "That would make you...eleven years old. Wow! You really are a genius." He stated.

"Yep!" Yukari exclaimed. "Hey, is it true about what you said? You're actually friends with a witch?"

"Yeah." Christian replied. "We have been friends since childhood. Although I think she prefers the term 'Sorceress'."

After that Yukari lost interest in Christian and put all of her attention on Moka.

"So, Moka...by how pretty you are, you must have a ton of friend's right?" Yukari asked nervously.

"Well actually..." Moka gestured towards Christian and Kurumu. "These guys are honestly the only friends I've ever had." She admitted.

Christian automatically looked at Moka sadly, feeling sorry for her.

For a moment, Yukari seemed to shy away a little bit and gulped. "Well, in that case maybe you would..." She started.

"Hm?" Moka asked, patiently waiting for the young girl to finish what she was going to say.

"Well...if it's okay with you..." Yukari spluttered. Suddenly she stood up and banged her hands on the table, surprising the other three teens. "Maybe you would like to be my friend?" She shouted out, nervously.

After recovering from the initial shock of Yukari's exclamation, a friendly smile appeared on Moka's face. "Well of course, I'd be happy to be friends with you." Moka replied.

Yukari's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Yay!" She cried as she jumped over the table they were sitting at and tackled Moka to the ground in hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Yukari cried over and over, snuggling close to Moka.

"Um...that's ok..." Moka said, nervous by what the girl was doing. Christian and Kurumu watched the display in a mixture of shock and amusement.

"She's an interesting one, isn't she?" Kurumu commented to Christian.

The only answer she received was a small nod from the boy. He was currently wondering what would happen if he told Zack they could be friends. He shuddered at the thought of Zack pulling him into a hug.

Unfortunately for Moka, she had no idea what she had just gotten herself into.

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It was later, as she walked through the halls of the academy that Moka realised her mistake. Since they had left the cafeteria, Yukari had not let go of her and was currently hanging on to her waist as Moka dragged her down the halls.

Of course seeing someone who wasn't them so close to Moka caused all the boys to burn with envy.

"Why can't that be me?!" They cried as they watched.

"Moka you're amazing, I'm so happy that I'm your friend!" Yukari cried happily, still hanging on to Moka's waist.

"Yukari...maybe you can let go, please? My legs are getting tired." Moka reasoned, desperate for some space.

"Hey, hold up!" A voice came from behind them.

Christian suddenly appeared behind them, a look of concern on his face. "Yukari, I know you and Moka are friends now, but maybe you should respect her personal space." He said kindly.

Moka looked at Christian with a face that screamed relief. If anyone could make Yukari understand she needed space, it was Christian.

"Christian Hawke. I knew you'd turn up." Yukari said in a surprisingly mature voice. "Age: fifthteen, build suiting someone who has gone through harsh, personal training. Grades: above average, Athletic ability: below average, Social skills: below average. Aside from the various monsters forms, which are clearly limited in selection and only accessible by your limiter, you have no amazing or useful skills whatsoever." Christian was beginning to get annoyed, he hadn't gone through two years training at the Plumber Academy and one month of training with the Omnitrix whilst learning Japanese to be talked down to by a kid.

Yukari continued to push his buttons by finishing with, "Overall, I can't imagine a more half-baked guy."

Christian's left eye twitched as he ran those words through his mind over and over.

All of a sudden Yukari let go of Moka, much to the latter's relief, and turned to face Christian defiantly. "That is why I cannot let someone like you defile my friend." She said pulling out her wand. "So I declare war on you!" She proclaimed, pointing her wand at the confused Christian. It began to glow as Yukari started chanting.

"Magic wand, brooms and buckets, magic wand, brooms and buckets...Abra Kadabra!"

Suddenly the cleaning supplies from inside the caretaker's closet sprung to life. They flew out into the corridor and surrounded the unsuspecting Christian before they began to beat on him. After a couple of hits, Christian got annoyed and grabbed one of the brooms that was hitting him and used it to beat away the other supplies. He then got into a mini swordfight with another broom.

At the side, Moka watched worriedly as her friend fought the possessed cleaning supply. Yukari was next to her, laughing her head off.

As Christian fought the other broom, a bucket floated through the air until it was just above the teens head. It then dropped, covering Christian's eyes and stopping him from being able to fight back. The broom he had been fighting took the chance to knock Christian off his feet, causing him to fall to the ground, prompting the other supplies to continue their earlier assault.

Moka gasped as she watched Christian get hurt. She turned to Yukari, who was still laughing. "Yukari please stop!" She cried. "What have you done to those supplies anyway?"

Yukari finally stopped laughing and stood triumphantly, watching Christian struggle.

"I used magic to make the brooms move." She explained proudly.

"Magic?" Both Moka and Christian asked, the latter still trying to get the bucket off his head in order to fend for himself.

Yukari stopped the assault and with one wave of her wand, a wash pan fell on Christian's head, finishing him off. She then began to explain herself.

"I'm a witch; it's sort of my thing. As long as me and my wand are around, I will never let you anyway near Moka, Christian Hawke." With that, Yukari the proceeded to drag poor Moka away while Christian tried to get the bucket off his head.

However, unnoticed by the three, the goons from earlier were hiding behind a corner and had heard everything including Yukari's little announcement.

"She just revealed her monster identity; that's against the rules." The chubby one mumbled.

"That witch is really beginning to piss me off." The skinny one commentated.

The Class Rep was calmer. He leaned against the back of the wall and smirked. "Boys, I think it's time...we got rid of this pest.

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Upon removing the bucket from his head, Christian had made his way to the infirmary to get his bruises cleaned. Luckily Kurumu was there, Christian had no idea why though. Anyway she happily decided to help Christian. The two were currently sitting down on one of the beds that was in the room.

"Ow!" Christian winced.

"Sorry." Kurumu replied.

"It's alright." Christian replied. "I'm just annoyed that I let myself be beaten up by the broom brigade." He told Kurumu with a sigh. "Not to mention that I can't even hang out with Moka anymore without Yukari attacking me."

Kurumu's eyes widened with surprise. On the inside she began to celebrate. '_Yahoohoo! Way to go Yukari!' _She thought. Kurumu then got on to her hands and knees and began to crawl towards Christian in a slow sexual way. "You know I've heard things about Yukari." "She said.

"Re...really?" Christian asked nervously, noticing what the girl was doing.

"I heard she skipped a few grades because she's your regular child prodigy." Kurumu said, continuously inching towards Christian, moving her body seductively. "But she's kind of a childish brat, always pulling pranks on her classmates." She was almost on top of Christian, closing in on his face. "Everyone in her classroom hates her; I guess that's what to expect from a child genius."

"What?" Christian asked pulling away from the now disappointed Kurumu. Christian felt sorry for Yukari; he knew how it felt to be hated.

Little did the two teens know, Yukari was ducking just outside of the infirmary window. "Christian, my rival, I will not allow someone like you to tarnish Moka's good reputation." She said to herself.

She then pulled out a small stick man made of straw with a small paper face on it. "You're going to face the wrath of my voodoo doll!" She declared. "Just a small bit of his hair and...done." she said as she placed a single strand of Christian's hair into the doll. She then forced it's left arm to punch the head.

Back inside the infirmary, Christian suddenly unleashed a left hook to his own face, nearly knocking himself out. Kurumu paled as she got up to check on him. "Christian! Are you alright?" She asked him.

Outside, Yukari was laughing like crazy. "Moka will never be yours Christian Hawke. You can have balloon chest instead." Yukari said as she moved the voodoo doll again. "Play with her for a bit." Yukari said cheekily.

Back inside, Moka had finally found her way to the infirmary, opening the door with a sigh. "Hey guys. I finally got away from Yukari. She just wouldn't let up on..." Moka trailed off after seeing the scene in front of her. There on the bed, Christian was grabbing Kurumu's chest. While Kurumu looked to be enjoying it, Christian seemed to be in complete shock. Blushing at the sight, Moka turned away. "What are you two doing!?" Moka exclaimed, catching her friend's attentions.

"Moka, it's not what you think!" Christian cried, although he didn't stop fondling Kurumu.

"Then what?-" Moka began to question before a voice came from the other side of the window.

"Ha ha! I showed you!" Yukari cried before she saw everyone looking at her angrily. "Uh, oh." She said as she realised her mistake. As she had stopped moving the voodoo doll, Christian was now back in control of his body.

There was a sudden green flash from inside the room and before Yukari knew it, she was standing in the infirmary with Moka and Kurumu and a weird creature resembling a semi-armoured Velociraptor with three pointed fingers on each hand. It seemed to have black wheels on its feet and wore helmet with a visor. The visor came up and Yukari could see that it had a blue face, green eyes, black lips, and stripes above and on the right side of his eyes. It had an hour glass symbol on its chest. It had five blue stripes on its tail. It touched the hour glass symbol and there was another bright flash and Christian stood where the creature once had, an angry look on his face.

"I'm busted aren't I?" Yukari asked.

She only received a nod as an answer.

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After Christian had caught Yukari, He and the other two girls took her to one of the empty classrooms to have a little 'chat'.

Yukari hid behind Moka as Christian angrily stared at her. A wise decision on the girls part.

"First of all, Yukari, you need to apologise to both me and Kurumu for what you did." Christian said sternly.

Kurumu blushed a bit, remembering what had happened. "Actually, it didn't bother me at all." Kurumu admitted.

"You're not helping." Christian sighed with a sweat drop.

"Look, Chris, I know you're angry," Moka said, trying to defend Yukari. "But just remember, she's just a little girl."

"I know that Moka." Christian said before he turned his attention to the cowering witch. "Listen, Yukari if you keep this up then no one is going to want to be your friend. You have to use your magic more responsibly."

Yukari waved off what he said like it was nothing. "Who cares? I'm a genius, if others aren't at my level of intelligence why should I waste my time with them anyway?" She then stopped and looked at Christian sadly. "Besides...what's the big deal? I've always been alone."

"Yukari..." Christian said sadly, now concerned for the girl.

It didn't last long. With another wave of her wand, a bath pan once again fell on Christian's head.

Yukari then ran out of the room laughing. "Hahahahahaha! I can't believe you fell for that!" she cried as she disappeared.

"Yukari!" Moka called after her as ran after her.

"Always been alone...?" Christian wondered as he got off the floor rubbing his head.

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As she ran, Yukari continued to laugh at what she had one to Christian. However, the things the teen had said to her were still present in her mind and the words began to echo in her head. She then began to remember the words of hatred and disgust she had heard her classmates say behind her back.

_So she's a witch?_

_How can this be? What's a filthy border being doing in our school?_

_All she does is read books and cast spells. She is nothing but a freak!_

_Aren't witches closer to humans then monsters anyway?_

_She has no right even being in this school! _

_Yeah, there's no need for her at all._

_I bet she used magic to get good grades._

Yukari's run slowed until she had stopped completely. A single tear ran down her face as she remembered the words of all the voices. "Even if I am alone...I'm fine with it. Who needs friends anyway?" She muttered to herself as she tried to dry her tears.

She began to walk forward again, only to be knocked to the ground as she walked in to somebody.

"Ow! Hey! Watch where you're going you moron!" She yelled at the person who knocked her over.

"Compared to you, everyone is a moron now aren't they?" Said a familiar voice

Yukari looked up to see the Class Rep and his goons standing above her, glaring down angrily. "Class representative!" She exclaimed.

"You've been breaking the rules, Yukari." The Class Rep said menacingly, stepping towards the young girl. "And it's our job to punish those who break the rules." Yukari's eyes widened in fear as she realised what was to come. "I think it's time we had a little 'chat'." The Class Rep continued with a sinister smirk. He then grabbed hold of Yukari's wrist and proceeded to drag the struggling girl into the forest.

However these actions did not go unnoticed by a passing by boy with spiky black hair and a scar over one of his eyes.

"I'd better get help." Zack said to himself as he began to run towards the school building. "And I know just who can."

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Back in the classroom, Christian and Kurumu were talking about Yukari.

"Border beings?" Christian repeated what Kurumu just told him. "What do you mean?"

"You mean you don't know?" Kurumu asked, surprised. "I thought you were friends with a witch?"

"It never came up." Christian defended. He couldn't tell her that Gwen Tennyson, his friend he said was a witch, was actually a human who learned to perform magic.

"Well witches are considered outcasts since they are neither human nor monster. A long time ago, they were considered the link between the two but as time went on, that was forgotten, and they just became considered half monsters. They're not all that well liked in the human world either." Kurumu explained, making Christian feel a bit guilty. He knew Kurumu was referring to the Salem Witch trials. "In fact," Kurumu continued. "Yukari's been harassed by her classmates because of that. It's worse because she's a lot smarter than them and she's only eleven. When that happened she started playing pranks to get back at her classmates. I guess she's been this way since the beginning, with no one to relate to her she must have always been alone."

Christian looked down at the ground sadly. How could he have not seen it? When he was at the Plumber Academy he had faced the same kind of discrimination because he was human. He had been mocked, ridiculed and insulted. The only difference between Yukari and himself was that she had retaliated.

"She's like me." Christian said in a low whisper, however Kurumu had heard him.

"Don't be silly! You have me!" She exclaimed as she went to hug him, but Christian had already gotten up and began to leave. "Where are you going?" Kurumu asked, following him.

"We have to find her!" Christian called back. "Where do you think she wou-ouf" Christian started to say before he collided with someone turning a corner. Recovering quickly, Christian looked to see who he had hit, only to find Zack looking more worried than in pain. "Zack! I'm sorry I didn't see you there. Are you okay?" Christian asked him.

Zack quickly got off the ground and grabbed Christian's right wrist and began to drag him outside. "No time." He said breathlessly. "We have to get to the forest!"

"Why do we have to go there?" Kurumu asked as she followed after the two boys.

"I just saw the class representative from earlier and his cronies drag of that witch girl into the forest. I have a really bad feeling they are going to do something terrible to her." Zack told them as he dragged Christian. However as soon as Christian heard that he stopped, almost making Zack fall over. Zack was about to turn around to tell Christian that this was no time to stop when he noticed the boys eyes. They were filled with anger and hatred.

"What?" Christian asked in a monotone voice.

"Chris?" Kurumu asked, noticing the sudden change in Christian's attitude.

"I saw the Rep from earlier dragging off that girl they were hassling into the forest. I think they are planning to hurt her." Zack repeated, a little nervously, also noticing the change.

"Where do you think they were headed?" Christian asked still in the same tone of voice.

"Probably pretty far in." Zack said. "There won't be that many people around and the fog will cover them so anyone who is around won't be able to see who they are."

Christian nodded before he began to walk over to one of the windows and opened it.

"Bro, what are you doing?" Zack asked, knowing they were running out of time to save Yukari.

"Chris, we have to go." Kurumu said nervously, watching Christian as he looked out the window. They were on the third floor and Kurumu was wondering why Christian was stalling.

"I know." Christian said simply, not looking away from the open window. "I'll meet you guys there. I can get there faster on my own."

"But-" Kurumu tried to protest. However before she could say anything else, Christian had jumped out the window. "Chris!" She cried as she and Zack ran to the window just in time to see a green flash and then Astrodactyl fly off towards the forest.

"That was awesome!" Zack exclaimed stars in his eyes.

"There's no time for that!" Kurumu exclaimed already beginning to transform as well. "We need to go after him."

"Right!" Zack confirmed with a nod before getting slightly nervous. "Er...mind giving me a lift?"

"Ugh!" Kurumu exclaimed as she grabbed Zack underneath his armpits and with a flap of her wings, the two flew out of the window after Astrodactyl.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Inside the forest, the trio of thugs had drug Yukari out to the lake area of the school. The place was far enough from the campus that no one would be able to hear anything that went on and due to the fog no one could see them.

"Ow!" Yukari cried as the Rep threw against a tree. "What's your problem you stupid jerks? That hurt!"

"That hurt, that hurt." The scrawnier of the three taunted before he snarled. "Why don't you go cry about it."

"That voice of yours is really annoying!" The chubby one added.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting for this." The Rep hissed as he licked his lips. "A little freak like you has no place here!"

Suddenly all three of the boys began to transform. Their skin all began to crack and turned green as their faces elongated. Their hands turned into claws and their eyes turned yellow and slitted, along with a long reptilian tail shooting out from behind.

They were lizardmen.

"Back off!" Yukari cried, slightly shaking as she drew her wand and swing it around as she began a magic chant.

"Magic wand attack, magic wand attack, magic wa-!" Yukari was unable to finish her chant as the class rep lunged forward and bit the top half of the wand off.

Yukari was surprised as she looked down at the stump of a stick that was her wand.

"Disgusting!" the Class Rep said spitting out the other half of the wand.

"What should we do with her, boss?" The chubby reptile said.

"I say we eat her." answered the skinny one. "The fogs so thick no one will see us."

"Yeah, she may be a prepubescent little brat but at least it will get the taste of that wand out my mouth." The Rep agreed.

Yukari screamed in terror. "Please, someone help me!"

"Stay away from her!"

The lizardmen turned around to see Moka standing a few feet away.

"You again!?" The rep shouted.

"We should eat her too." The skinny one said.

"No one will notice." The fat one reiterated.

"Agreed." The Rep growled.

"Please Moka, run! I can handle these guys!" Yukari cried desperately, trying to save her friend.

"You've got to stop doing that, Yukari!" Moka cried, getting the girls attention. Then to the lizardmens surprise, she walked straight past them. She didn't even register their presence as she smiled warmly at the witch, almost like an older sister would. "If you're scared then there's nothing wrong with asking the others for help." Moka said calmly as she made her way over to the young witch. She stopped a few inches away from Yukari and knelt down until they were at eye level. "You're still a little kid, so don't push yourself too hard."

"I'm not a little kid!" Yukari protested.

"Maybe, but the truth is, you were lonely before me and the others came, weren't you?" Moka guessed, hitting the nail on the head. "You don't have to be so defensive around Christian either. He knows exactly what you are going through."

"No, he doesn't." Yukari argued, irritated that Moka was defending her rival. "He doesn't know anything! He's got it easy; he's got so many forms he doesn't need to worry about being accepted."

"You're wrong." Moka told her.

"Huh?" Yukari asked.

"Before he coming to this one, Christian went to another school where he was treated in exactly the same way your being treated now. He faces the same kind of discrimination here as well, just because he's an American." Moka explained, pulling Yukari into a hug. "But, despite everything people say about him and how badly they treat him, he will do everything in his power to help others. Just like how he rescued you earlier today.

I was then that Yukari remembered it was Christian who had saved her from the reps attack earlier. She also realised that in the classroom, Christian had been trying to help her. He had only been concerned about her well being. The realisation of how she had treated someone who had protected her hit the girl hard. She buried her face into Moka's chest as she began to cry, Moka holding her to let it all out.

However, it wasn't emotional for everybody. The three lizardmen just stood there, their eyes twitching, angry about being forgotten.

"What the hell? When did this become a soap opera?!" the skinny one yelled.

"They completely forgot about us!" The chubby one yelled.

The Class Rep shook his head with anger. After a few seconds he had finally had enough. "Hey, you!" he shouted to get the girls attention. "We're not going to let this go unfinished!" He then charged at the girls, claws and teeth exposed as he roared at the girls. "Let's chow down!"

But before he reached them, something caught his hand. He looked to his hand to see a whip of green energy wrapped around his arm. Following it into the air he saw Astrodactyl floating in the air above them, looking very angry.

"Hawke!" The Rep cried.

Astrodactyl said nothing. With a sharp yank of his arm, he swung the rep around into his cronies and sent them all flying back. Astrodactyl then flew down to Moka and Yukari and landed in front of them. In a flash of green light, Christian stood before them.

"Are you two alright?" He asked, looking over the two for injuries.

"We're fine." Moka told him, letting go of Yukari but keeping her close. "You showed up just in time."

"Good." Christian said before turning his attention to the recovering Lizardmen. "I thought I warned you idiots not to try anything like this again." Christian told them angrily.

"Get out of our way!" The class rep shouted back once he was off the ground. He pointed to Christian. "I don't care if the rumours they say about you are true! Do you honestly think you can interfere with us defending the school rules?"

Christian ignored the outburst. He turned back to Moka, a serious look on his face. "Do you want to help me teach these guys a lesson?"

Moka seemed surprised by the question before she nodded with determination. "Let's do it."

Without further encouragement , Christian took hold of the Rosario and with a look of trust between the two friends, Christian removed it. Suddenly Moka began to transform. Yukari was amazed at Moka's beauty and power.

Over with the lizardmen, the monsters were panicking as they watched the transformation. The Class Rep whimpered, "That demonic aura, the overflowing energy! It's soul crushing!"

Once Inner Moka's transformation was complete, she stood confidently next to Christian, glaring at reptilian douches with cold unforgiving eyes.

"I take it these are the ones who wish to harm this girl?" Inner Moka asked, referring to Yukari.

"Yeah." Christian confirmed with a nod of his head. "You take Laurel and Hardy over there." Christian said referring to the two goons. "The ring leaders mine."

Inner Moka was about to remind Christian she was not one to take orders, however, when she saw the look of aggression in Christian's eyes, she stopped, realising that this was important for him. "Very well." She agreed, slightly annoyed. "However, you will not give me orders again."

"Fine, let's just do this." Christian deadpanned.

Inner Moka looked at Christian with, surprisingly, concern before shaking it off and walked towards the two goons. "So, I think it's time you learned your place." She told the cowering lizardmen who had been trying to make an unseen get away.

Watching Inner Moka begin her 'work', Christian turned his attention back to the Rep who was glaring daggers at Christian. "You think that you can take me on your own." The Rep mocked. "You should have let the vampire deal with me because now, you're going to die."

Christian began to walk towards the Class Rep, ignoring his words. Yukari watched Christian fearlessly walk towards the Rep and grew curious. Why was he so confident when fighting a clearly stronger foe? She understood why Moka was calm, but why him?

"You think that just because I'm on my own and I'm not in a monster form? You are nothing more than a bully; you pick on those weaker than you just to make yourself seem strong. So now I think it's time you tasted some of your own medicine." Christian said, activating the Omnitrix and dialling through the aliens until he came to the one he wanted.

"Oh yeah. And who's going to do that?" The Rep continued to mock, trying to not let Christian see he was now nervous.

"This guy." Christian said simply, slamming his fist down on the Omnitrix. The clearing around the lake was covered in a green light as Christian transformed. When the light had faded, a huge dinosaur like creature stood where Christian once had.

"Humungousaur!" It roared.

Humungousaur was about 12 feet tall. His skin was a hard, scaled and a sort of beige colour. He looked like a somewhat humanoid T-Rex. He wore black briefs and had a green sash type thing around his body. The Omnitrix symbol was on the sash.

The Rep stared at the titan in front of him and gulped, realising his mistake.

"You scared." Humungousaur mocked, looking down at the monster in front of him. "You should be." Suddenly Humungousaur brought his fist down towards the reptilian monster. The rep cowered expecting a blow; instead he heard nothing but a loud crash beside him and the earth shake. Looking up, the Rep saw that instead of him, Humungousaur had smashed a hole in the tree behind him, causing it to fall over. Retracting his fist, Humungousaur brought his face down until his eyes were level with the Reps. "This is your last warning. Try anything like this again and I won't hold back." With that, Humungousaur got up and began to walk back towards Inner Moka, who had long finished with the goons and had been watching the show with amusement.

Suddenly a cry ran through the area. "Christian!"

Both alien and vampire looked up to see Kurumu carrying Zack flying towards them. Upon landing, Zack stared at Humungousaur and Inner Moka with awe. He then ran over and began to look the two over. "Woah! You guys look awesome!" He exclaimed.

"Thanks..." Humungousaur said nervously as Zack picked up and dropped his tail.

"Hawke, who is this?" Inner Moka asked, becoming irritated by Zack's fan boy moment.

"Moka, this is Zackery Orion. He's the one who told me Yukari was in trouble." Humungousaur explained.

"Well get him to back off." Inner Moka replied as Zack got in her face to look at her eyes.

Upon hearing her complaint, Zack backed up a little. "Sorry. Just got excited, you know?" He explained.

Yukari made her way timidly to the group. Upon seeing her, Humungousaur smiled. "You okay?" He asked.

Yukari nodded her head. As she did so Kurumu used her wings to fly up and give Humungousaur a hug around his neck. "I bet you were awesome in that fight. I can't believe I missed it." She whined.

"I didn't really fight him." Humungousaur explained. "I just gave him a warning."

"You're too soft if you ask me." Inner Moka said. "You should have taught him his place like I did with the other two."

"By the way, where are they?" Yukari asked. She had not been watching Inner Moka's fight for very long.

The only answer she got was Inner Moka pointing above them. The three other teens and alien followed her finger and saw the other two lizardmen hanging from the tree.

"That's a weird way to decorate." Zack quipped.

Yukari looked back down and at the people who had saved her. "Why?" she asked, catching the others attention. "Why did you help me?"

"Aren't you supposed to be a genius or something?" Kurumu said with a sigh. "We may not have gotten off on the best foot, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends."

"She's right." Humungousaur said to the young witch. "I am pretty much the odd guy out considering I'm an English guy from the US."

"Well actually, I'm half American myself." Zack interjected.

"Really?" Humungousaur asked surprised.

"Yeah, my dad was American while my mom was Japanese." Zack explained.

"That's cool, but we're kind of trying to do something here." Kurumu said with a sweat drop.

"Right, my bad." Zack said nervously, rubbing the back of his head. He then turned to Yukari. "Listen Yukari, I know that your life has been hard, but these guys seem to care about you." He said gesturing to Humungousaur and the others. "And I know you don't know me, but I would like to be your friend as well." He said cheerfully.

Yukari looked to see if Inner Moka was going to add anything. However the proud vampire simply crossed her arms and turned to the side. But she looked calm and relaxed, not annoyed.

Yukari blinked, and then started to sniffle before she broke out crying all together. She ran over to Humungousaur and hugged his leg as that was as far as she could reach. Humungousaur brought down his hand and gently patted the girls back, comforting her. The young witch continued to cry loudly. She was happy at this point. She finally had friends who liked her.

When Yukari let go of Humungousaur, she wiped away her tears and smiled at the titan, who returned her smile. Humungousaur then turned to Moka and handed her the Rosario, which had been in his hand the entire time.

"Thank you Moka. It's good to know we can always rely on you." The alien said to her, making Kurumu and surprisingly Yukari slightly jealous.

Inner Moka didn't say anything as she took the Rosario and moved to place it back on the choker. However just before she did, Inner Moka looked to Humungousaur.

"Hawke. You showed courage and determination standing up to me." She said.

"Thank...you." Humungousaur replied, sensing a but.

"Don't do it again."

"Yes ma'am." The alien agreed quickly.

With that Inner Moka reapplied the Rosario and undid her transformation. Humungousaur reached out ready to catch the Outer Moka expecting her to fall unconscious; however she seemed to be fine.

"Are you okay?" The alien asked.

"Yeah..." Moka replied a little tiredly. "Just a little sleepy. Are you okay Yukari?" She asked the witch cheerfully.

The witch nodded happily from where she was, smiling politely. The four began to have a friendly conversation; completely oblivious to the still transformed Class Rep. His anger was reaching new peaks. Not only had he once again been humiliated by the gaijin, but now he was being ignored again while the gaijin was having a friendly chat, gloating in the Reps defeat.

He couldn't take it anymore, despite Humungousaur's warning, the rep charged at Yukari, desperate to strike a killing blow to the girl. "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH, I WILL NOT BE SHOWN UP BY A FILTHY WITCH!" He screamed as he extended his claws. Yukari turned around too slowly, she would not have been able to dodge the attack. Then, just before the claws struck, Moka rushed forward, pushing Yukari out of the way, but not without consequence. The claw tore at Moka's back, slicing through the cloth and tearing at the skin. Time seemed to slow as Moka hit the ground, falling unconscious, blood seeping through the remains of the back of her jacket. For a minute no one moved, shock over taking them all. Then suddenly Yukari and Kurumu screamed, "MOKA!"

The Class Rep stared at Moka with anger. "You bitch! How dare you get in the way of my-" The class rep was interrupted by Humungousaur punching the Rep, sending him flying from where he was all the way across the ground until he crashed into a tree at the other end of the area. The Rep fell to his knees and coughed up blood, wounded from the attack.

While the girls tended to Moka, Zack was watching Humungousaur as he walked slowly towards the Rep, his features hidden as he looked towards the ground.

The Rep staggered to his feet only to be knocked down again by Humungousaur.

"How dare you!" Humungousaur roared as he tried to deliver another punch to the Rep, who had luckily rolled out the way just in time. "I warned you! Now you are going to pay!"

Zack watched Humungousaur nervously. He hadn't known Christian that long, but he knew this wasn't like him to beat on an enemy. "Bro! Calm down!" He cried out, trying to get Humungousaur's attention and failing. Kurumu looked up from the injured Moka to see Humungousaur's rage. She automatically grew worried as she watched the boy she loved beat down the weaker foe.

"What's wrong with him?" She asked no one in particular.

Back with Humungousaur, the alien was in a rage, nothing was getting through to him as he thought of Moka being hurt. And every time the Rep dodged one of his attacks his anger grew. Finally it reached its peak.

"ENOUGH!" Humungousaur bellowed, scaring everybody. "IT'S TIME TO END THIS!" in that instant he moved his hand to the Omnitrix symbol on his sash. For a moment, Kurumu believed that he was going to turn into another one of his monsters, but then Humungousaur turned the symbol clockwise before smacking it.

Suddenly four spikes protruded out of the Omnitrix and a green wave of energy swept around Humungousaur, transforming his further. Humungousaur grew a few more feet and his scales changed colour, armour began to appear on him. His hands also became clawed.

"ULTIMATE HUMUNGOUSAUR!" The evolved Humungousaur bellowed, shaking the area around him.

Ultimate Humungousaur was an ankylosaurus-like creature, having grown to 20 feet. He was now green and had spikes growing out of the sides of his head, which were silver. Ultimate Humungousaur possessed a dark blue, spiked shell on his back. His torso was dark blue with spikes on them. Ultimate Humungousaur's tail had a mace on the end of it, with silver spikes. Ultimate Humungousaur's knuckles had barrels on them. The evolved Omnitrix symbol on his chest.

Everyone stared in shock at the new form, as new fear ran though them. However they were all thinking the same thing. The Class Rep was screwed.

The Lizardman stared at the dinosaur like creature in front of him and wet himself. His eyes were bulging with fear. "I'm so-" he was cut off as Ultimate Humungousaur pounded him into the ground. Then the evolved alien retracted his fist and pounded the Rep again with the other. This cycle continued three more times as his friends watched on in horror. They had never seen Christian be so brutal. The Class Rep was already unconscious and if this continued Christian was going to kill him. None of them knew how to stop him.

It was at this point that Moka began to wake up, groaning from the injury on her back. "Moka!" Yukari exclaimed, relieved that her friend was alright. Upon hearing the witches exclamation, Kurumu and Zack turned to see the vampire girl getting to her feet.

"Are you okay?" Kurumu asked, concerned.

"Yeah, Don't push yourself." Zack added.

"I-I'm fine." Moka said weakly. She then felt the impact as Ultimate Humungousaur delivered another blow. Moka looked over in shock to see the evolved alien beating down on the Rep. "Is-is that Christian?" She asked, slightly scared.

Yukari nodded her head. "After the Class Rep hurt you, Christian went mental. I think he did something to power up his Humungousaur form and then he began to beat down the Rep." She explained.

"He was angry before, but as soon as he entered that form he went crazy." Zack told the pink haired girl.

"I've never seen him like this." Kurumu gasped. "This isn't the same person I fell in love with."

"We have to stop him!" Zack exclaimed, running forward towards the dinosaur like titan. "Bro! Christian! You need to stop this! He's had enough!" He cried out, trying to reason with Ultimate Humungousaur. "If you continue then you will regret it for the rest of your life!"

Ultimate Humungousaur stopped his beat down for a second and glared at the boy in front of him.

"And what do you know?" He shouted. "You only met me today! You don't know me!"

"I know you better than you think!" Zack retorted. "I know why you fight, why you do everything you do! I know what it feels like to lose someone important to me and I know the feeling of hatred you are feeling right now!" He then moved until he was between Ultimate Humungousaur and the Class Rep. "Calm down, you don't have to do this, because if you do you will become just like him." Zack said pointing behind him the lizardman.

Ultimate Humungousaur looked at Zack for few moments, his expression softening slightly before it once again hardened. With one hand, he picked up Zack and pinned him against the ground with his left hand. Then he pointed his right hand at the Rep's unconscious form. The hand suddenly transformed into a four barrelled cannon like weapon. "You may have a point about all of those things." The alien admitted. "But I have had enough of people like him in my life! It's time I wipe them out!"

"Stop!"

Ultimate Humungousaur stalled, looking over to the source of the voice to see Moka, with the help of Kurumu and Yukari, stagger towards him.

"Please stop this Chris." She pleaded. "Zack's right, you don't want to do this."

"You will regret it for the rest of your life." Kurumu added.

"Not to mention that you will be expelled or worse!" Yukari continued.

"Moka...Kurumu...Yukari..." Ultimate Humungousaur said slowly.

Moka then broke free of the hold of Kurumu and Yukari and made her way weakly towards her friend. "You don't have to this." She said gently as she reached him, tears were in her eyes. "I'm fine, see? Please go back to being the person I know."

Ultimate Humungousaur listened to Moka and felt conflicted. On the one hand, he knew everyone was right and if he did kill the Rep, he was going to regret it forever. On the other hand, there was a part of him telling him to do it and get revenge for all the times he had been bullied in the past. He knew which side was right.

Suddenly the alien roared into the air, scaring everyone. He released Zack and transformed his other arm into a second cannon.

"CHRIS!" Everyone screamed, fearing what he was going to do.

Ultimate Humungousaur threw his hands up into the air and sent green missiles of energy into the air, letting out a mighty roar.

Once he had stopped, the mighty alien fell to his knees and in a green flash, the regular Humungousaur was once again present. Then in another he was replaced with Christian, who was crying with tears streaming down his face.

Moka automatically ran over and pulled Christian into a hug and helped him to comfort him. Her own tears trickled down her face. She was soon followed by Kurumu and Yukari, both running over to the boy and embracing him, tears rolling down their own faces.

Zack, who had now gotten off the ground, stood smiling at the scene. He was happy that the person he considered a friend was okay and back in his right mind. He then realised the Class Rep was going to need medical attention. He quickly ran over to the broken body of the Class Rep and checked him over. _'This is bad. It feels like most of his bones are broken.'_ He looked over to the still crying Christian and the girls surrounding him. _'He has so much power. That's quite impressive...especially for a human.' _He looked down to Christian's exposed wrist, the Omnitrix showing. Zack stared at it for a minute greedily before deciding it could wait. For now there was another task at hand.

"Guys! We need to get this guy to the infirmary right now!" Zack told them. Christian looked at what he had done to the Rep in horror. The body looked mangled, the arms sticking out at weird angles and blood oozing from wounds that Ultimate Humungousaur had inflicted.

Christian felt sick. "I-I did that?" Christian asked. It had felt like he wasn't completely control of his last alien form and he couldn't clearly remember what he had done. He broke free of the girls holds and once again fell to a kneeling position on the ground, looking down at the ground in shock, afraid of himself.

Moka saw this and realised that Christian was in no state to go anywhere at the minute. So she decided to take charge. Standing up she turned to the other two girls. "Kurumu, Yukari, help Zack get the Rep to the infirmary now." She said.

"What about you?" Yukari asked.

"I'm going to stay here and make sure Christian is okay and try to get him back to his dorm, it doesn't look like he is going to be able to do anything else for a while."

"Oh, no!" Kurumu cried. "I am not going to leave you alone with my destined one! Besides, you're still hurt from earlier."

"This is not up for discussion Kurumu!" Moka shouted back, not in the mood for Kurumu's nonsense. "You're the fastest out of the three of us, you need to fly back to the academy and get them ready to receive a patient!"

"We also need to get someone to come and fetch them." Zack added, using his thumb to point at the two unconscious bodies in the tree.

"Fine..." Kurumu conceded, spreading her wings and took to the air, however before she left, she shouted to Moka, "However you better not try anything!" With that she was gone, flying at high speeds towards the school.

After that, Zack walked towards the Rep and gently picked up his body. "C'mon Yukari, we need to get this guy back to the school fast." He said to the witch.

Yukari nodded, slightly unhappy about having to help the guy who had tried to kill her and her new friends. She ran over to help carry the the rep with Zack. "Let's go, this guy is heavy!" She exclaimed as they began to run back towards the school.

This left only Moka and the seemingly paralysed Christian. Moka walked over to him and knelt down, trying to comfort the teen.

"Christian..." She said.

Christian didn't reply. His hair shadowed his eyes.

"Please, Chris, talk to me." Moka said to him soothingly trying to help him up. However, to her shock, he battered away her hand with his own. "Chris...?"

"Don't, Please..." Christian muttered weakly. "Why are you being so nice to me?" He asked.

"Because you're my friend." Moka justified. "And you didn't do anything wrong."

"Didn't do anything wrong...?" Christian repeated slowly. "Did you not see what I did to that guy?!" he exclaimed. "I practically killed him!"

"But you didn't." Moka responded. "You were able to stop yourself." Tears were beginning to reform in her eyes.

"Only because you and the others managed to calm me down!" Christian countered. "If you hadn't then I know I would have killed him!"

Moka couldn't take it anymore and reached forward, surprising Christian as she wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him into a hug. Christian couldn't understand why she was doing it.

"Please don't talk like that." Moka said softly, her face now behind his. "I hate that you're talking about yourself in this way."

"But...how can I claim to want human-monster coexistence if I almost killed one?" Christian asked. "Maybe I should just give up and go home?"

Moka's eyes widened at the comment. "No!" she cried, pulling back from the hug and looked Christian directly in the eyes. "You can't leave!" She cried. "Do you have any idea what that would do to Kurumu and Yukari? They would be devastated! Not to mention how I would feel! I would be heartbroken if you left! You are the greatest friend I've ever had and I want you to stay in my life!" She told him, deep red.

Christian shared her colour. The two looked at each other in silence for a few more moments before Christian finally found the strength to lift himself from the ground. "Moka, you're also the greatest friend I've ever had." He admitted. "When that guy hurt you, I feared the worst and I snapped. I was afraid that someone else I cared about had been taken from me and I reacted badly."

"Chris..." Moka started. She wanted to ask him what he meant when he said that someone had been 'taken' from him but sensed it wasn't the time.

Christian then reached his hand out to the girl on the floor. "C'mon, I feel better now." He lied. "Let's go home and get some rest. I get the feeling it's going to be a long day tomorrow."

Moka, hesitatingly, took the hand and smiled at the warmth she could feel, her blush returning. Christian was blushing as well. And then the two friends began to make their way back towards the dorms. Their hand's never separating until they reached their destination. Once there, the two friends said a regretful goodbye for the day and made their way to their respective rooms.

Once Christian had entered his, he slumped against the back of the door and punched the floor in frustration. With nothing else to do, he made himself some dinner, reported the day's activities to the Plumbers, including his moment of madness. No doubt he would get hell about that as well. He then had a wash before changing into his nightclothes and making his way to bed, just wanting the day to end.

Unfortunately for Christian, he didn't get his wish because around midnight, someone knocked on his door. Groggily, Christian put on a dressing gown that he had with him and made his way to the door. He opened it without bothering to check the peephole, he knew this could only be related to one thing. What he didn't expect was to see Zack standing there in casual attire. Christian noted Zack's outfit consisted of a hooded black jacket with red flames and blue lines and a red T-shirt with a white tank top inside. On his hands was a pair of black leather gloves. He wore a pair of blue pocket pants. There were black sneakers with sliver and blue lines on his feet.

"Hey Bro." He greeted cheerfully despite Christian's mood.

"Hey." Christian returned, stepping aside so Zack could come in. "I assume this isn't a social visit." He said.

"Yep." Zack confirmed, nodding his head.

"You may as well come in then." Christian responded, gesturing for him to come inside.

"Thanks." Zack replied entering the room, admiring it for a few seconds before he went to sit at the table in the room.

Christian followed him and sat opposite Zack. "So.." He started, fearing the answer. "What happened to the Rep?" He asked finally.

"Well, at the moment he is in critical condition. Pretty much every bone in his body is broken." Christian visibly winced. "But the doctors believe that with a little time, and a lot of pain killers and physical therapy, he should make a full recovery. Isn't a monster's healing ability grand?"

Christian relaxed after hearing that. Even though the Rep was a scum bag, he didn't deserve to die. "That's good." Christian told him.

"However, there is something I have to tell you." Zack said, regret in his voice.

Christian looked up at Zack with a questioning look. "What? Am I being expelled for almost killing a student?"

Zack shook his head, surprising Christian.

"You are being punished, however, Yukari explained what happened out in the woods and your actions were deemed reasonable. Unfortunately though, you are still being suspended." He explained.

"Well I guess I didn't expect to get off without a consequence." Christian replied in understanding. "How long?" He asked.

"Two days, so not that long." Zack explained. "By the way, Kurumu and Yukari went home after they dropped off the Rep, they wanted to see you but I managed to persuade them to wait until after your suspension was over." Zack told him.

"Thanks, I'm not really in the right mood to see anyone at the moment." Christian replied gratefully.

"I guess that means I should leave then." Zack assumed, getting up.

"Probably..." Christian said before one small smile appeared on his face. "But... after I get back from suspension, we could hang out." He suggested.

Zack's smile widened. "So, are we friends now?" He asked.

Christian nodded his head. "Dude, we became friends when you told me where to find Yukari." He told Zack stretching out his right hand for Zack to shake, which the boy gladly did.

After that, Zack left the room saying, "I'll see you in two days." With that, Christian closed the door and went back to bed.

However, little to Christian's knowledge, as Zack turned a corner, his smile changed into a knowing smirk as he thought about his next move. He wanted the same power as Christian's limiter, and Zack had just the power to do it.

'_I will be the hero this school deserves and I will protect those I care for. I swear on my life that I will become more powerful' _With that thought, Zack made his way back to his dorm, anticipating the events to come.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It had been two days since then and Christian's suspension had come to an end. Moka and Kurumu walked through the corridor carrying boxes to Miss Nekonome's class. They had already agreed to meet Christian there. Both girls were anxious to see him, they hadn't spoken to him in two days and Moka had only seen him once through her window which was when they had arranged to meet in the classroom. As they walked, the two girls chatted about the recent events.

"So Yukari is getting on with her class now?" Moka asked curiously.

"Yep." Kurumu replied. "She apologised in front of the whole class for everything she had done. Her classmates all felt guilty about what they said about her and apologised. It's a lot better now that the Class Rep is in the infirmary. Apparently he's the one who provoked most of the insults."

"That's good." Moka replied happily.

"At least she won't be bullied anymore. We probably took care of that." Kurumu continued.

There moment of calmness and happiness was over when the girls opened the door to the classroom. To their surprise, Yukari was in the room pressing herself against an exasperated Christian in a one-sided hug. He looked confused as to what to do in the situation he was in. He turned to see Moka and Kurumu and paled.

"Oh, Christian!" the young witch cried joyously, "I just love you to death."

"Huh?!" Both Moka and Kurumu cried, dropping the boxes and gaining Yukari's attention.

"Hi!" The tiny witch smiled. "Ever since I saw Christian in action as Humungousaur, I couldn't bear to be away from him anymore. In other words, I'm in love with him!" She declared.

"WHAT!?" Moka and Kurumu exclaimed.

"Hang on now Yukari, I'm honestly flattered by the thought, but I don't think that's appropriate." Christian tried to reason.

"Love knows no age, nor bounds!" Yukari announced. "When you showed up to save me, I felt like a princess being saved by a knight. The way you protected me made me feel so special. Therefore I declare that I shall do all I can to make you mine. However, I also realise that Moka also shares feelings for Christian; therefore I shall help her in her escapade too."

"Oh no, you don't!" Kurumu shouted as she ran over and latched on to one of Christian's arms, attempting to pull him away from the witch. "Christian is my destined one!"

"No, he's mine!" Yukari countered, grabbing the other free arm and pulled, beginning the familiar game of tug of war. "He and I have more things in common than you!"

"You're both just wasting your time." Moka said in a dangerous tone, making both bickering girls stop their fighting and Christian sweat bullets.

'_Not again!' _Christian moaned in his head.

At that point, Moka pounced at Christian. "Because Christian belongs to me!" she shouted as she grabbed on to Christian's neck.

"Moka, Wait!" Christian shouted in vain.

CHU!

**And there you go. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and liked Zack's introduction. Yes, Zack knows Christian's a human. How he does will be covered later in the story. For now, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I shall see you in January or early February. We me luck with my mocks. Bye!**

**By the way Lewamus Prime I hope you like your characters introduction. He is going to get his Omnitrix soon, but it won't be for a few chapters. However I can tell you this. Zack will be more powerful than Christian. Merry Christmas! **


	5. Chapter 4

**Well my mocks are finished and I'm back with a new chapter, all is right with the world. (Well not really) I'm sorry about the wait and I hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year. Now I enjoy the story, I had a good time writing it. It seems they increase in length each chapter.**

**Also I was wondering if anyone could suggest songs for Moka, Mizore and Yukari and Ruby (as a duet) to sing for a talent show that will be in a later chapter. By the way, if anyone suggests 'Let it go' for Mizore's, I will honestly have a fit. However I am open to suggestions. I already have great ones for Kurumu and Christian. By the way Christian is very stubborn in this chapter. Bear with him, he gets over it at the end.**

**Also a quick question, Sixsix or Khyber, who's your favourite Ben 10 hunter/bounty hunter. Please leave your preference in the reviews as the person you chose may be appearing in a future chapter. **

**Enjoy the chapter.**

"**..." Speech**

'**...' Quote **

'**H**_**i' Thought**_

"**Learn your place!" **Inner Moka through Rosario

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC**

**Alien Watch in a Monster School**

**The Fan boys Fearsome Rath **

It had been two days since Yukari declared her love for Christian. Since then, the boy's life had become even more hectic. His mornings were pretty much the same as before, except that now he had Yukari to deal with alongside Moka and Kurumu. Christian didn't really care though. In fact he had been acting rather strangely.

He still chatted happily with his friends, however at the same time he seemed to be slightly distant, like he wasn't truly there in spirit. Of course the girls had noticed this and were concerned for about their friend. They all knew why Christian had been in his slump. As did the rest of the school, after all they had been tormenting him for it. The news that Christian had almost killed the Class Rep from Yukari's class had spread like wildfire. Of course they all knew what the Class Rep had done to deserve such a fate but the jealousy the boys, and some of the girls, had for Christian was too strong. They all blamed Christian for the Rep's condition and if their insults were bad before, their death threats were worse.

Of course Moka and the others had defended their friend but to the other students of the academy, Christian was public enemy number one. He couldn't go anywhere without being the target for verbal abuse by his peers. This made it all the better when Christian was able to go back to his dorm and rest.

Unfortunatley, luck was not on Christian's side that day. When returned to his room and checked his laptop, he discovered to video call from Max Tennyson waiting for him. Steeling himself, Christian answered and was greeted by the magister's angry face.

"Christian, we need to talk." Max stated. Christian said nothing to reply so Max continued. "I read your report and I can't believe you would do something as foolish as use the evolution feature to defeat a foe who couldn't even protect himself. I am very disappointed in your cause of actions." He lectured. Christian still didn't say anything and was now looking at the ground. Seeing this, Max sighed as his features softened slightly. "That being said, I also know what he did to provoke you into going that far. I may not condone your actions; however I don't blame you for wanting to avenge your friend." Christian, hearing this, raised his head slightly however he still didn't speak. "Christian, I know what you had to go through as a kid. I know that it has been tough for you, but you need to cool your anger around people like that or one day you will go too far."

I know..." Christian said weakly. "I never meant to take it far." He continued. "But it was like the evolved Vaxasaurian DNA took over my emotions and increased the anger I was feeling to extreme levels. The only reason I was able to regain my control back there was because Moka and others were able to talk some sense into me." Christian explained sullenly.

On the screen, Max moved his hand to his chin in thought. "That doesn't sound right. When Ben had the Ultimatrix, he never had this problem with the ultimate aliens." He noted. However both Max and Christian knew that wasn't true. There had been a point when the ultimate aliens had become sentient and had been trapped inside the Ultimatrix. Ben had almost died setting them free from the device. However Azmuth had fixed that fault with the evolution feature; so why had Christian felt all of that aggression?

"I will discuss this matter with Azmuth; he may have the answers we want." Max told him. "In the meantime, refrain from using the evolution feature unless it is absolutely necessary. That means a life of death situation."

"At this point in time, I'm going to refrain from using the Omnitrix. I don't think I'm ready to use it again." Christian replied.

"It's not the machine that makes the man Christian; it's what he does with it that defines him. Remember that." Max said.

Christian simply nodded, but he still seemed unsure. "Yes, sir." he finally said.

Max looked at Christian for a few moments before sighing. "That will be all for now. I'll let you get some sleep." Christian once again nodded in response; he had wanted the conversation to end anyway. "Remember that I still need to talk to Miss Akashiya, it is important that if she knows your secret, she understands why it must be kept."

"Yes, sir." Christian repeated, moving to end the call. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight Christian. Remember, don't fear your power. Use it to protect those you care for." Were Max's final words as the call ended.

Christian turned off the laptop before getting ready to turn in. Once he had turned off the light and got into bed, he stayed up and looked at the device on his wrist. _'How can I not fear this thing if I can't even control myself when using it?' _He asked himself before he turned in his bed and allowed sleep to overtake him.

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_Christian found himself in a dark, empty void. Upon looking around, he found nothing but the empty vastness of space. "Hello!" He called out. There was no answer. _

_Suddenly the area changed, colour flooding his vision and forcing him to avert his eyes. When Christian could finally see again, he found himself in the middle of the forest surrounding the school. He noticed figures were now around him. Upon looking closer, Christian was able to make out Moka, Kurumu, Yukari and Zack. They all looked to be in a fighting stance, ready fight an unknown enemy obscured in shadow. Fear was evident on their faces. Kurumu had transformed into her monster form while Yukari had her wand outstretched in front of her. _

_Kurumu was the first to strike, leaping forward with her claws out stretched. However no sooner had she made her way over to the silhouetted figure was swatted away like an insignificant fly. She hit the ground hard and looked up just in time to see the large figure stomp on her. The girl was crushed instantly beneath the weight, leaving a bloody stain on the ground and a broken body. _

"_NO!" Christian cried in absolute horror. He tried to move but found himself unable to. His entire body felt like it had been chained down. He struggled to move his body to no avail. Christain was forced to watch as the rest of his friends engaged the figure. One by one, they fell. Yukari was the next to fall. She lasted just as long as Kurumu. Before Christian could even blink, Yukari had been thrown across the area. She hit her head on a large rock and fell to the ground. Blood flowed from the girls head as she passed._

"_PLEASE STOP!" Christian begged, tears freely flowing down his face as he watched his friends die._

_Zack was next. The figure simply picked the boy up in one large fist. Zack struggled until the figure just used its large thumb to snap the boy's neck. It then threw the body down to the ground as it moved towards the last person standing..._

_Moka _

"_DON'T DO THIS! PLEASE! I BEG YOU!" Christian shouted in desperation as he watched the figure slowly approach the cowering Moka. "RUN MOKA, RUN!" Christian pleaded, desperate for her to survive. However it appeared Moka could not hear him. She backed away from the figure as it approached her. She was finally stopped as she pinned herself against a tree. _

_The figure stopped just in front of the girl, seemingly eyeing her. It then raised one large hand towards her as Moka said. "Please don't do this. Don't do this Chris." _

_The blood in his veins ran cold as he heard those words, not believing them to be true. To his horror, the figure became clearer. It's features revealed. Christian found himself looking at himself as Ultimate Humungousaur, his right arm shifted into a bio-cannon._

"_No. It can't be..." Christian said in disbelief, his voice barely a whisper. "I would never do this." _

"_**And yet you have!**__" Ultimate Humungousaur said suddenly, surprising Christian that he could be heard. "__**Now watch as I kill this insect!**__" It shouted as it shot one single blast of energy, causing an explosion that engulfed Moka. _

_Christian was forced to listen to her screams as she burned. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Christian screamed towards the sky before he was finally allowed to collapse to his knees. His tears burned his face as he cried out in sadness. It wasn't until he felt the large footsteps of Ultimate Humungousaur that he looked up from the ground to see the massive alien titan in front of him. An evil smirk was plastered on it's face. "Why!?" Christian demanded. "Why did you do this!?" _

"_**This is what you are to become.**__" The alien replied. "__**You will kill your friends because you allowed your anger to blind you.**__" It continued. _

"_I will never become you!" Christian shouted back. _

"_**We will see,**__" The alien smirked, an eerie chuckle escaping the titans lips. "__**For now...DIE!**__" with that the alien pointed his still transformed hand towards Christian and shot out one last blast of green energy. Then everything went white._

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Christian screamed as he flew from his bed in a cold sweat, panting hard. "It was...just...a dream..." He assured himself between breaths. He leaned back on to his bed in relief. He turned his eyes to his alarm clock on his side table to find it was only 5 am. "Great." Christian growled knowing he wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep.

BANG BANG

Christian's attention was drawn to the sound of someone bashing their fist against his door.

"Bro! Are you okay?" Christian recognised the voice as his new friend Zack Orion. As Zack continued to bash on his door, Christian finally managed to will himself to get up. He was still slightly freaked by the dream and didn't realise he was wearing next to nothing. Unlocking and opening the door, Christian was met with the worried eyes of his friend.

"Bro are you alright?" Zack asked the instant Christian opened the door. Christian was only just able to make out that Zack was wearing a pair of boxers with a blue and white flame pattern and a white t-shirt.

Christian gave his friend a small smile. "Yeah, just some bad dreams," he lied, what he had just experienced could only be described as hell.

"I think it's a little bit more than 'some bad dreams'," Zack replied, still concerned. "You were screaming your head off. You practically woke up everyone in this section of the dorms."

Slightly surprised, Christian stuck his head out the door to look down the corridor to find other members of the male dorm looking at him with looks of concern, annoyance and hatred. Mostly the latter.

Once the boys had realised Christian was looking at them they retreated back into their dorms, leaving Christian and Zack standing in the middle of the corridor. Christian suddenly felt the cold night wind brush against his body. It was then that he realised that he was only wearing a pair of boxers, causing him to become very self-conscious. He raised his hands to his arms as he began to shake.

"Want to go inside?" Zack offered, snickering at his shivering friend.

Christian gave with a grateful nod before the two entered his room. Christian closed the door and gestured for Zack to take a seat at the table in the corner while he went to grab a black shirt.

"So, motorbikes eh?" Christian heard Zack say from the table as he pulled the shirt over his head.

"What?"

"Your boxers."

Christian looked down to find that he was wearing the boxers that Ben had given him for his last birthday as a joke present. The boy instantly turned red.

Christian had always liked motorbikes and Ben had known that so his present to him that year had been these boxers and a set of keys to his own bike that Ben and his friend, Kevin Levin, had built for him. Since he was a plumber, Christian already had his driver's license, unfortunately he couldn't drive it leisurely until he was sixteen. Luckily, his birthday was coming up soon so that wouldn't be a problem. Maybe once he was allowed to drive he could take Moka for a ride? After that thought, his blush became a little brighter. The thought of his vampire friend always seemed to do that to him.

"Are they that embarrassing?" Zack's asked, bringing Christian out of his thoughts.

"No..." Christian replied slowly. "They're a birthday present from a friend."

Zack gave him a quizzical look before accepting the answer. "Okay then." His eyes moved to the side of the room towards the bed before he looked back towards his friend with concern. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Christian automatically looked away. "I don't know what you're talking about." He lied, wanting to drop the subject.

"Dude, it was more than a bad dream. You were screaming your head off. You woke up half the building. Some of the girls in the other building may have heard you." Zack countered, becoming frustrated with his friend's denial.

'_Was I really that loud?' _Christian asked himself. "I-I really don't want to talk about it," he finally admitted.

Zack's eyes became softer, as if he knew what Christian was going through. "Sometimes the way to make it better is to talk." He stated.

Christian looked at Zack's calm face feeling that he could somehow trust the boy. "You're not going to let this go are you?"

"No chance." Zack replied with a smirk. "If you don't tell me now, I'm going to get the girls to talk to you later."

Not wanting his other friends to know about this little episode, Christian sucked up his courage before he began to tell his friend about his nightmare.

All the way through, Zack just listened. He didn't interrupt or ask questions. He just nodded his head until the end. Christian didn't realise it at first but he felt a small tear roll down his cheek as he finished recounting the horror he had been forced to experience.

At the end, Zack simply nodded and got up to place a hand on his friends shoulder. "Bro, you shouldn't need to worry about that. What the Class Rep did was plenty reason enough for what you did to him. Let it go."

"How can I let it go?!" Christian countered angrily. "I almost killed someone! I breached almost every principle I ever had when I attacked him!" Angry tears formed in his eyes as he continued to speak his mind. "I used my powers to try and kill someone! I'm the true monster!" Before Christian could continue, he found himself stopped by something impacting with the side of his face, causing him to fall on to his back.

Christian found that Zack had ended his rant with a firm punch. He fell to the ground disoriented and when he finally managed to find his bearings, he looked up only to see Zack's angry face.

"You don't understand do you!?" The teen cried angrily. "You don't get what you're doing to yourself?" He began to make his way towards the door. He calmed down and spoke softly. "Listen Bro... I know that you've been out of it since you went...berserk." The word made Christian cringe from his position on the floor. "But you need to get over that." Zack continued. "If you don't, you are never going to be able to protect those closest to you. And dude, everyone at this school is a monster, it was kind of the point when making it." With those last words, Zack left Christian's room and began heading back to his own.

"If you're going to be a hero Bro, It's time you started acting like one." Zack muttered to himself as walked down the corridor.

Back in his room, Christian finally pulled himself off the ground and sat on his bed, his face looking towards the ground.

"Pretty soon I'll have been here a whole month." Christian muttered to himself. On his first day at the academy, Christian had discovered that the bus back to the human world only arrived once a month. Now there were only two days left until a full month will have past. Christian, if he wanted to, could go home. Abandon his mission and go back to Bellwood. However in doing that, he would have to leave his friends. Christian didn't want to leave, but after the past few days' events, did he have any right to be with them?

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Christian's thoughts weighed too heavily on his mind and he found himself unable to get back to sleep. Therefore the young plumber found himself performing his normal morning routine which he would normally do when he woke up around seven.

After a wash, a change of clothes and a quick breakfast consisting of buttered toast and apple juice, (Christian made a quick mental note to go shopping for groceries at the school store later.) Christian was ready to head to the academy...in two hours.

It was still early morning and Christian realised that he still had time to kill so he decided to get some homework done. May as well do something.

However he soon found it to be a fruitless endeavour as his thoughts drifted to what he knew was going to happen within the next few hours. As soon as he left, he was going to be insulted and tormented by his fellow peers for the events that had transpired. People had begun to throwing things at him as he passed them on the path or in the corridors. Of course Christian ignored them, but it didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

Christian dropped his pen onto the desk in frustration. He couldn't concentrate on it while this shit was on his mind. Leaning back in his chair, Christian raised his left wrist to look at the Omnitrix. Despite the fact that he had been using it to help his friends, Christian found himself unable to even activate it to scroll through the suggestions. He feared that if he did, he would be unable to control the alien DNA. That nightmare definitely didn't help his convictions. At this point, Christian desperately wanted to remove the device and return it to its rightful owner. However in doing that, Christian would have to leave as the school would be too dangerous for him to stay. That and everyone believed that if he took off his 'limiter' he would die as his various 'monster' forms would overrun him and kill him.

Christian was torn. He could either remove the Omnitrix and go home, never to see his friends again. Or he could suck it up and keep going. He had to decide soon because tomorrow was the day that it could all end.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Moka stood outside the dorms buildings, waiting for Christian to arrive so they could walk to school together. However the boy in question was taking longer than normal. As the vampire girl watched the other students leave, she saw no sign of her Omnitrix bearing friend. Kurumu and the rest of their friends had already gone ahead, believing Christian had gone earlier to avoid the hassle. Moka however had decided to stay behind in case Christian hadn't left yet.

Luck was on Moka's side. Only once all of the other students had left did Christian make his appearance. As the boy made his way towards her, Moka's smile grew, happy to see her friend. However as he came closer, it quickly faded.

The boy in front of her didn't seem to resemble Christian at all. His normally neat brown hair was messy; his clothes looked ragged as if they had just been slung on. His movements were slow and staggered, however what worried Moka the most were her friend's eyes. They seemed distant, despite the fact Christian was looking at her, they seemed to pass through her like she was invisible.

"Chris…" Moka said as her friend reached her.

Almost instantly, Christian snapped out of whatever he had been thinking about. He looked around as if he hadn't realised where he was. However upon seeing Moka, a small, tired smile appeared on his face.

"Oh hey, good morning Moka." He greeted casually, like he hadn't just been walking like a zombie.

"Good morning Christian." Moka replied hesitantly, still slightly worried. "How are you this morning?"

"I've been better." Christian admitted, scratching the back of his head. "I just didn't sleep very well."

Moka looked at Christian quizzically before nodding. "Well...as long as you're okay then."

"Don't worry Moka, I'm fine." He then looked around the area, as if expecting something. "Where are the others?" He asked.

"They went on ahead. They thought that you may have already left." Moka explained. "I stayed because I thought that you were just running a bit late."

Christian nodded; his tired eyes seemed the tinniest bit happier. "Well I'm glad you did," he started, "I guess that means it'll be quieter than normal though. Still the company's great so I can't complain." He remarked, making the vampire girl blush as he began to walk forward before turning his head to the side. "C'mon, if we don't hurry we're going to be late."

Moka's blush vanished as she realised Christian was right. She ran a few paces to catch up with her friend before they walked side by side towards the school, chatting away like everything was normal. However they were unaware of the three pairs of gleaming eyes, glaring angrily at the two friends. One pair shining more brightly than the others.

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Christian and Moka had only just made it into their class before the bell rang signalling the start of the day. From the annoyed look on Kurumu's face, Christian could tell she was miffed that she had been wrong about him having already been at the school. Now she had given her rival the chance to get closer to him.

Upon taking his seat, Christian could feel all the angry glares of the students around him, each one wanting to try and take him down. With a sigh, Christian took out his books and listened to the teachers lecture, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Amidst his thoughts, Christian didn't realise the concerned expressions of his friends.

'_Chris, what's wrong with you?' _Moka wondered.

'_There's got to be a way to get him out of his funk...' _Kurumu told herself.

For the rest of the lesson, Christian remained silent as he worked. Every so often he would look up and stare out the window towards the forest as if there was something out amongst the dead trees.

It came as a relief when the bell rang signifying homeroom with Miss Nekonome. However when the teacher entered with her cheerful smile, she noticed the atmosphere in the room and her expression fell, her cat ear like hair drooped and her tail, which she did a horrible job of hiding, stayed still. After taking registration, she tried to cheer the class up with some weird stories relating to cats. However that just made things more awkward for her pupils.

Once again it was a relief when the bell rang. As Christian got up to leave with Moka and Kurumu, he found himself stopped by his cat like teacher.

"Mr Hawke, can you please take the bin to the incinerator out the back? It has been full for a while and needs to be emptied." Miss Nekonome asked.

Christian responded with a nod. "Yes miss, I'll take care of it." he replied.

"Thank you very much." the teacher said with a cheerful smile. As Christian picked up the bin and made his way to leave, Miss Nekonome stopped him again. "And Mr Hawke, please don't worry about the events the other day, you responded the way most would in that situation." She told him.

Christian looked at his teacher with wide eyes before a small smile appeared on his face. "Thank you, Miss Nekonome." He replied as he left, leaving his teacher inwardly celebrating that she managed to make him feel a little better.

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After a quick explanation to the girls about what he was doing, Christian made his way to the back of the school where the incinerator was. As he walked, Christian thought about the situation and about his mission. However he found it to be frustrating.

"What am I gonna do?" He asked himself with a sigh as he approached the incinerator.

"You! Christian Hawke!" A voice shouted behind him.

Surprised, Christian turned towards the source of the voice. What he found was not one, but three people. The first one was tall and had long, shaggy brown hair. He wore glasses on his face. The second guy was short and pudgy with spiky, straw blond hair. And finally, the guy between them, who was the one who had spoken, had reddish blond hair and looked like your everyday average guy. However, the weird thing about them was that they were all crying and seething at him in anger. Ok, maybe the last one wasn't weird considering recent events.

"Yeah, is there something you want?" Christian replied, confused as to why the three had approached him.

"Today is the day we finally declare war on you, Christian Hawke!" The average guy proclaimed. Christian got the idea that this guy was the leader of the three.

"Declare…war…?" Christian repeated with a cocked eyebrow.

"We'll never forgive you!" cried the fat boy.

"Huh?" Christian gawked, confused. "Why? What did I ever do to you?"

"You don't know?" the average guy asked with a small smirk.

"It's because you're bothering our goddesses!" the fat boy growled.

"We can't tolerate it anymore!" The boy with glasses shouted. "It's not fair that a foreigner like you just suddenly got so popular with the hottest girls in the school over night!"

Christian couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had never met these guys before. Who were these goddesses that they were talking about? Christian grew frustrated; he didn't have time for these guys. "That's…great, but as you can see I'm a little busy right now." Christian said as nicely as he could, wanting to finish throwing away the rubbish and get back to his friends.

"Oh no you don't!" The average guy cried, once again stopping Christian and making him look at the strange guys. "You can't leave until we say you can!"

With that, the three guys grabbed hold of their jackets and ripped them off, revealing pink coats underneath with something written on them that Christian couldn't understand.

"Formation start!" the average guy cried as he began to a strange dance and began chanting. "Give me an M, give me an O, give me a K and give me an A! What's that spell? MOKA!" he sang.

"I'm gonna cheer for the woman of my dreams too bub!" the chubby boy declared as he began dancing and chanting too. "Kurumu, Kurumu, she's my love! Touch her and you'll get a shove!"

The boy with glasses suddenly followed his cohorts' actions and began to sing in a high voice. "Y! U! K! A! R! I! Yukari! Yaaaaeeee!"

Christian's jaw dropped when he realised what this was all about. "Oh God. Please don't tell me..." he began with a pleading expression.

"That's right!" the average guy announced. "I'm the leader of the Moka Akashiya Fan Club, Kouzou Kasahara!"

"And me, I'm the leader of the Kurumu Kurono Fan Club, Gouzaburou Taira!" the chubby boy proclaimed.

"And I'm the leader of the Yukari Sendo Fan Club, Kubisaku Naga!" the boy with glasses announced.

"And together we are... The Cute Girls Fan Club Coalition!" The three cried in unison, posing wierdly.

Suddenly the area around them became very silent; the only sound to be heard was the blowing of the wind.

"That's...nice..." Christian finally managed to say, feeling extremely awkward. He quickly opened the incinerator and threw the rubbish in before he could be interrupted again. "It was nice...meeting you, but...I think I should go."

He turned to leave before he heard Kubisaku shout out. "Don't think you can just get away from us that easily!" Christian turned around to find all the boys were holding megaphones. "You are our sworn enemy!"

"Our vengeance will be painful and swift!" Gouzaburou added, pointing his own megaphone at Christian. "You won't know what hit you!"

"Prepare, yourself, Hawke!" Kouzou finished, raising his own megaphone.

"Guy's, I'm not going to fight you." Christian stated. Unfortunately his words fell on deaf ears, because no sooner had he said those words did the three other boys attack.

"Love-Love Alliance!" Kouzou shouted loudly. "Charge! Fearsome Wrath!"

The trio then ran towards him and began hitting Christian with their megaphones, unleashing their 'fearsome wrath' whilst chanting those exact words. The boy in question however did nothing to stop them and just stood up straight. A: because their megaphones were made out of a soft plastic and didn't hurt. And B: Christian was too dumbfounded that this was their 'fearsome wrath'. It wasn't even intimidating.

After about thirty seconds, Christian had enough of the idiotic display and decided to end it. Using his Plumber training, he jumped into the air and performed a back flip, surprising the three other boys. Christian landed on Gouzaburou's head and then performed a second back flip, pushing Gouzaburou into his two friends and causing the three of them to fall over each other, Gouzaburou crushing his fellow members with his weight.

'_That's not pretty.'_ Christian thought as he landed on the ground. However he noticed the position he had landed in. His legs were far apart for balance where as his chest was slightly bent over. The Omnitrix was activated and Christian's right hand was ready to press down on the core. Christian's eyes widened in horror realising what he had almost done. He quickly deactivated it, not able to believe he had almost transformed to fight people who he was sure couldn't protect themselves.

He was brought out of his thought by the sound of the fan boys getting back to their feet. Kouzou glared angrily at Christian, his anger rising. "You're not good enough to be around Moka!" He cried. "After what you did to that class rep, it's only a matter of time before you hurt her!"

Christian's whole body froze as he heard those words, the memory of his nightmare still fresh in his mind. His arms fell to his sides as if he had been defeated by an unseen enemy and he began to shake, fear gripping him. The fan boys wasted no time in using this to their advantage. Kubisaku pushed the unresponsive boy over with ease and then proceeded to hit him with his megaphone along with the other two members of the Fan Boy Coalition.

Christian however barely felt the blows as the words of Kouzou replayed through his mind. His body paralyzed and his emotions clouding his judgement.

"What's up with this guy?!" Gouzaburou questioned between blows. "He's supposed to be strong isn't he?"

"Yeah! Why doesn't he fight back?!" Kubisaku agreed. "Is he only strong when he's in monster form?!"

"Someone like you doesn't deserve to be with any of our goddesses you trash!" Kouzou exclaimed as he began to hit Christian harder with his megaphone. "You should just disappear!"

Christian did nothing as the fan boys continued hitting him with their megaphones for about half a minute before somebody stopped them. A shadow of a person came out of nowhere and within seconds the fan boys found themselves sent back, falling down several feet away from Christian.

Upon feeling the disappearance of the blows from the megaphones, Christian looked up to find Zack standing in front of him with a playful smile on his face. He looked at the three recovering fan boys, regarding them with amusement. "You know, it's not nice to gang up on people." Zack commented mockingly. "Especially if it's my friend."

"Who're you!" Gouzaburou demanded once he was back on his feet.

"Me?" Zack asked, pointing to himself. "I'm Zack. Didn't I say that already?" He asked the surprised Christian like it was an obvious thing. Christian just stared at him. "I can't believe you let these guys get you down." Zack continued, completely ignoring the three boys fifteen feet from him. "I thought that this would have been easy for you."

"Hey!" Kouzou shouted, regaining Zack's attention. "Are you ignoring us!?"

"Yeah," Zack said simply before turning back to Christian. "So anyway-"

"Hey! What the hell!" Kubisaku shouted, annoyed. "Stop ignoring us!"

"No." Zack replied with a shrug. "Besides, I think someone else has something to say to you." As soon as Zack had said that, the trash cans and brooms in the area started to float and began to attack the three fan boys. The trio tried to protect themselves from the attacks to no avail.

"What the hell is this?! It's like they're possessed or something!" Gouzaburou cried.

"It's not possession, its magic!" Kubisaku shouted excitedly.

"What the heck is going on here?!" A voice cried out, catching everyone's attention.

Five pairs of eyes turned to see Yukari running towards them, wand raised. "Leave Christian alone you jerks or I'll kick your ass!" the witch shouted.

However she wasn't alone. Closely following her were Moka and Kurumu.

"It's…my love!" Kubisaku exclaimed dreamily.

"And my sweet Kurumu!" Gouzaburou drooled.

"And my Moka!" Kouzou swooned.

Once the girls finally got close enough, Kurumu began to shout at the fan boys. "What the hell are you three doing?!" She demanded.

"I'll tell you," Yukari answered as she pointed her wand at the trio. "These three were ganging up on poor Christian over there." She said gesturing to the silent teen.

This caused Kurumu and Moka to glare at the fan boys.

The trio, realising they had no chance, quietly began whispering to themselves.

"What should we do?" Kubisaku asked nervously.

"Gentlemen, I think it's time we initiate plan delta." Kouzou announced.

"It's risky…Do you think we can do it?" Gouzaburou questioned.

"If we work together we can do it." Kouzou reasoned. "You ready?"

"Yeah!" the other two agreed.

With that the three turned back to the four people staring them down and their enemy on the ground. They all wore confident, determined expressions. Suddenly they all pointed towards something to the groups left.

"Look at that!" they shouted, causing everyone to look in the direction they pointed. Seeing nothing they turned back to find the trio was already running away.

"Yukari." Kurumu said to the witch, knowing what she would do.

"Right!" Yukari replied, waving her wand, causing the brooms and trash cans from before to follow the trio as they fled to continue pummelling them.

Once satisfied, the girls ran over to their fallen friend, who was still on the ground. Moka was the first to reach him, automatically dropping to his level and began checking him for injuries. "Chris! Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm fine…" Christian replied, lying through his teeth. "I'll be fine." He repeated before turning to Yukari and Zack and gave them a sad smile. "Thank you for the help guys, I really appreciate it." Zack returned the smile with a small one of his own whilst Yukari blushed.

"It-it was no problem; you would do the same for me." Yukari replied.

"Yeah, anyway let's go and get some lunch. I don't know about you guys but I'm starving." Zack interjected, walking away towards the cafeteria, his arms behind his head. Unknown to the group there was a frown on his normally goofy face.

"That sounds...good…" Christian said weakly, struggling to his feet. Moka and Kurumu saw this and automatically went to help him.

"Chris, are you okay? Did those guys hurt you?" Kurumu asked angrily. She was furious that anyone would try and hurt her destined one.

"Yeah, maybe we should take you to the nurse's office?" Moka suggested her eyes full with worry.

"Seriously guys I'm fine, they didn't really hurt me with those plastic megaphones and they weren't dangerous." Christian deadpanned. However, despite their actions not hurting, the same could not be said for their words. Even though Christian was acting like he was fine, he really wasn't. Kouzou's words kept going through his head and it terrified him what he could do if he lost control of an alien form when transformed. "C'mon," He said moving forward out of the girl's grips. "Let's catch up with Zack." With that he continued forward, hoping the girls would not see the fear in his eyes while missing the concern in theirs.

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That night, Christian sat at his desk doing the homework that he had been set earlier in the day. However his mind wasn't in it. Luckily for him, the three from earlier had not attacked again so he had managed to spend the rest of the day with Moka and the others. It had made him feel a little better about himself but the pain of Kouzou's words was still there, preventing him from fully enjoying himself.

"_You're not good enough to be around Moka!"_

"_After what you did to that Class Rep, it's only a matter of time before you hurt her!"_

"Ahhhh!" Christian shouted out in frustration, scratching at his head. "Just get it out of your head Chris." He said to himself. "It's nothing, that is never going to happen." As he said that, the memory of Ultimate Humungousaur blasting Moka in his dream flashed through his mind, causing him to get angry.

Christian punched the desk in frustration, letting out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He remained still for about a minute before he silently removed his fist from the desk.

"I need some air." He decided. Christian then quickly changed out of his school uniform and put on a pair of blue jeans, a white shirt and coat. Once he had put on his shoes he walked out of his dorm room in to the cool night air.

Christian went unseen by all but one as he left his lodgings. He walked out towards the fountain between the two dorms and stared at the reflection of himself in the water. With no one else around, Christian felt...relaxed. Closing his eyes, Christian pointed his head towards the sky, embracing the light breeze.

"Want some company?"

Christian's eyes shot open as he looked behind him to where the voice had originated. There, standing before him, was Moka, still dressed in her school uniform minus the jacket. Her beautiful figure seemed to radiate as the moonlight hit her. She looked at Christian with kind but pleading eyes. Christian found himself unable to say no to the beautiful girl.

"Sure...I would appreciate the company." Christian replied, a small blush on his face as he gestured for her to join him before looking back towards the sky. Smiling, Moka sat down to his right and copied Christian's actions, looking up towards the sky. Unfortunately due to the barrier protecting the school, they were unable to see the stars.

After a minute of silence between the two, Christian looked towards his friend. "So how did you know I was out here?" He asked curiously.

"I'm sorry," Moka apologised for no reason. "I was looking out my window when I noticed you leaving your room. I then saw you by the fountain and thought that I could join you." she admitted. "I'm sorry if I'm intruding."

"Don't worry about it." Christian deadpanned. "As I said this morning, the company's great so I can't complain." Just like earlier, Moka blushed at the comment however it was dark enough that Christian didn't notice. They remained silent for a few more moments before Moka broke it.

"Chris…what was bothering you today?" She asked. She had been worried about him all day ever since he had walked up to her that morning. Moka knew something was bothering Christian but she also knew that he wasn't one to open up easily if he knew it would affect his friends.

Her suspicions were proven correct when Christian looked down at the ground sadly. Knowing it was going to trouble Christian, Moka quickly withdrew the request. "I'm sorry, you don't need to tell me. I was just…worried."

Christian sighed, still looking at the ground. "You apologise too much, you know that?" he told her. "If I told you, would it make you feel better?"

Moka nodded in confirmation. Christian sighed again before he leaned back up and looked Moka in the eyes, allowing her to see the pain that was in them. With gathering resolve, Christian began to tell Moka about his nightmare from the previous night. As he gave his story he watched Moka's face go through a number of emotions including sadness, pain and shock before her expression finally settled on one of fear. The look on Moka's face killed what was left of Christian's confidence. Turning away from the girl, Christian rose from the side of the fountain and began to walk away, believing that he had just lost his closest friend at the Academy.

However, Christian had barely made it a few steps before he felt someone embrace him from behind, wrapping him in a tight but caring hug.

"Is that really why you've been sad all day?" Moka asked, sadness in her voice and tears forming in her eyes.

Christian, who was still shocked by the embrace, could only nod, tears beginning to form into his own eyes.

"You've been reliving losing all of us to yourself, fearing that you could lose control of yourself and hurt us ever since what happened to the class rep?" she continued. Christian just nodded again.

Slowly, Moka released Christian and moved round until she was looking the teens in the eyes. Silently she reached out a trembling hand and brushed away a lone tear. She then moved closer and once again hugged Christian, comforting him. It was then that Christian realised that the look of fear that had been on her face was not out of fear of him, but rather fear for him. Fear that he would let this eat him up instead of getting help. She feared for her friend.

Christian, hesitantly, moved his arms until he was returning the hug. They were so close that Christian could smell the sweet aroma of Moka's hair. The two friends held each other in silence, nothing spoiling the moment they were sharing. Until…

Grrrrrr!

Both Christian and Moka were forced to part by the sound of Moka's stomach growling, causing the vampire girl to turn beet red in embarrassment. The two shared a small glance before Christian began laughing.

"You hungry Moka?" Christian asked once he had finished laughing.

"Ye-yeah…" Moka admitted, embarrassedly. "Hey! It's not that funny!" she cried, trying to defend herself from Christian's small giggles. "I just didn't have dinner…" She said quietly, pouting before looking at Christian with pleading eyes.

After hearing that and seeing Moka's cute expression, Christian sighed and used his right hand to pull down the collar of his shirt a little. "Go on…" he said with resignation.

"Thank you!" Moka exclaimed happily, leaning in towards Christian's neck. However before she took her fill, Moka looked at Christian one more time. "Chris…" Christian looked down at his closest friend. "You don't need to worry about ever losing me or the others. We will always be here for you, after all, were friends." With that she reclosed the gap and began to drink Christian's blood.

Christian didn't really mind though. Moka's words had made him feel a lot better and gave him back some confidence. However as he looked down and saw the Omnitrix shining on his wrist in the moon light, he found that he was still uneasy about using the device as guilt rushed through him.

His mission was once again brought to his head as he wondered if he was really the best person suited for this mission if he couldn't even control himself when using the device he needed to complete it.

Once Moka had finished taking her fill the two backed away and decided to return to their own dorm rooms. However, Christian offered to walk Moka to the entrance of the girl's dorm in order to continue their conversation. And so, as they walked and talked, the conversation was quickly turned to the next day.

"Hey Chris," Moka started. "I just realised, tomorrow we will have been at Yokai for a full month."

"Yeah..." Christian replied slightly nervously, not wanting to let Moka know what he had been contemplating all day. Even if he had told her about his nightmare, Christian didn't want Moka to know that he had been thinking of leaving. "It's hard to believe isn't it?" he continued.

"I know, so much has happened." Moka said happily. "I mean for one thing we met Kurumu, Yukari and Zack and became friends with them. We've been in three fights and my Rosario was unsealed." Moka recounted.

"That's right." Christian replied, wincing slightly when she mentioned the fights. They were now right at the door of the girl's dorm. The two stopped and looked at each other again, neither one wanting the other to leave. Unfortunately they both realised that they had to. "Good night Moka." Christian finally said.

"Good night Christian." Moka replied. Christian turned to leave however for the second time that night Moka stopped him from leaving, this time by grabbing on to his hand. Christian turned to find Moka looking at him with the most beautiful eyes that he had ever seen. As she looked at him they seemed to sparkle in the moonlight. "Chris...Do you know what the best part of this month has been for me?" she asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice and a unseen blush on her cheeks.

"N-no, what?" Christian replied with a blush of his own, wondering what Moka was going to say.

"It was meeting you." She admitted causing them both to blush brighter. "You were my first ever friend and it doesn't matter that you are a human. You're the reason I'm so happy at school. I-I just wanted to say thank you for being my friend."

To say Christian was shocked would be an understatement; he was flabbergasted by Moka's statement. He had never heard something so honest and heartfelt in his life. "Moka, I-" he started, unable to find the words to say.

"It's alright Chris." Moka said kindly. "Just promise me that we will always be friends."

Christian's eyes widened ever so slightly before a smile appeared on his face. "I promise."

Moka's smile could have lit up a Christmas tree. She surprised Christian by leaning in towards him. Christian thought that she might be going for another suck of blood but she surprised him by planting a light kiss on his cheek. If Moka's smile could have lit up a Christmas tree then Christian's face could have been used to lead Santa's sleigh.

Once Moka pulled away she gave Christian another smile, wished him good night and then begrudgingly went back in to her dorm house, leaving Christian standing outside holding his hand to his cheek.

"Good night Moka." He said simply, despite there being no one there, before he headed back to his own dorm, still holding his cheek.

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Meanwhile, in an unused club room across the campus, the three fan boys were plotting their revenge. The club room they were using was, disturbingly, covered from wall to wall in pictures of Moka, Kurumu and Yukari respectively. In the centre of the room, the fan boys were deliberating their plans.

"Christian Hawke!" Kubisaku growled. He was sitting with a cardboard cut-out of Yukari in his arms. "Why do you go to him, Yukari? Why?!"

"You can do so much better, Kurumu." Gouzaburou moaned as he cuddled against a life sized picture of Kurumu. "That murderous gaijin doesn't have an infinite amount of love in his heart for you like I do."

"Damn it!" Kouzou exclaimed. "If it wasn't for Hawke, we wouldn't be making out with pictures of our goddesses but with the real things!" he turned around to face a shrine dedicated to the three girls. "We have seen the enemy and he has seen us!" Kouzou declared. "Now the battlefield has been set for us to destroy him!"

"Huzzah!" Gouzaburou and Kubisaku shouted, cuddling pictures of their respective idols.

"I have a cunning plan." Kouzou told his two compatriots. "We will wait until he is alone. That way we can crush him! We must not let our idols see, such actions would crush them."

The other two fan boys nodded their heads in agreement.

"But what will we do if he transforms in to one of those many forms of his?" Kubisaku asked.

"Or the scary one that took down that rep?" Gouzaburou nervously asked. He didn't want to end up in the infirmary like the class rep, eating out of a straw.

"According to rumours, Hawke has one weakness. He is only to maintain his transformation for a few minutes before he is reverted back into his human disguise. As we saw earlier, he is as weak as a human in his disguise. That means that even we can take him out." He stopped for one moment before he gave his fellow fan boys a cunning smile. "And if that fails, we can use our secret weapon." He suddenly began shouting, pointing his arms up towards the ceiling. "We will prove our superiority to our idols! Christian Hawke will be defeated and we shall all get to have make out sessions with our gods!" the last comment was said with a massive blush.

"Huzzah!" the other two boys cried loudly.

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The next day, Moka, Kurumu and Yukari were happy to see that Christian was acting normal again. He had woken up early and had walked to school with all of them, he smiled and he even put up with the tug of war that the girls always got into over him. The day passed by peacefully without incident. Moka and Christian occasionally shared a small glance, remembering the events of the previous night. It was currently lunch and Christian and the girls were eating their food together like they always did. Christian had invited Zack but unfortunately the boy was busy. Therefore it was just the four of them in the cafeteria. They chatted about the school day and talked about their homework, ignoring the angry glares of the fellow students. Eventually though, the conversation turned to the trio from the previous day.

"Hey guys," Kurumu started. "Have you noticed the guys from yesterday hanging around a lot recently?"

Yukari, who had been trying to grip some noodles with her chopsticks, suddenly looked up in surprise. "You know what, I have." She realised. She then began to recount the story of how she had been carrying video equipment when she noticed Kubisaku taking pictures of her.

"He made it out to be taking pictures for the year book but I know what that jerk was doing." Yukari said with a frustrated expression on her face.

"WHAT!" Christian cried out, disgusted. "That's illegal! Taking pictures of a person without their knowledge is disgraceful. Have you told anyone about this?" he asked concerned.

"I-it's just that it only happened once and I didn't think anything of it at the time." Yukari told him.

"Yukari if that ever happens again you tell one of us okay?" Moka told her.

"Don't worry I will." Yukari replied, touched by her friends concern for her.

Christian suddenly felt something soft lean against his arm. He looked to his side and eyes bulged to see Kurumu leaning up against him.

"You know, Chris… I've been having to put up with a stalker too." She told him flirtatiously.

"Re-really?" Christian asked slightly flustered.

"Uh-huh, it's been really creepy…" she then began to tell Christian about how she had noticed Gouzaburou following her around recently at all points, when she was buying supplies for cakes, when she was coming out of the bathroom, even when she was in P.E and exercising.

"He always looked at me with this weird look, it was so creepy…" Kurumu trailed off. She had stopped hugging Christian half way through the story and just settled for looking disturbed.

"That's just as bad as the other guy!" Christian pointed out. "We need to tell someone about this." He continued before looking at Moka. "Has that other guy done anything weird to you, Moka?" He asked.

"I haven't seen him before yesterday." Moka told him.

"Well, it is still dangerous to let these guys continue." Christian told them. "We should talk to a teacher or the headmaster about this. They will be able to do something about it."

"There's no need," Kurumu stated cockily. "We can easily protect ourselves from them if they try anything with us." She said, referring to herself and the other girls. "And Christian can just transform and kick their ass's if they-"

"I'm not transforming." Christian interrupted, surprising them.

"You may not have a choice if they try to attack you again." Yukari pointed out.

"I don't care," Christian protested. "I will not use the Omni- my limiter to fight opponents who are weaker than me."

"You do realise they are probably stronger in their monster forms right?" Kurumu asked.

"It doesn't matter." Christian replied.

"It does matter! You could get hurt!" Yukari cried.

"There right." Moka agreed. "You're just not that strong as you are. It's because you're a hu-" Moka quickly stopped herself before she could finish her sentence. Christian had visibly tensed. "I'm sorry, what I meant to say is that you're not that strong in your human form so it's wiser to fight in your monster forms." Moka quickly covered.

"Yeah! What Moka said." Kurumu agreed.

"We just don't want to see you hurt." Moka told him with a concerned look. Yukari nodded in agreement.

"I know it's just that-" Christian began before he was interrupted.

"What?! You're planning to put more people into the infirmary?!"

The four friends looked to their let to see a blond haired boy standing at the side of their table, an angry expression on his face.

"Well?!" he demanded, catching other peoples' attention.

"What are you talking about?" Christian asked.

"Don't play dumb!" The boy shouted angrily. "I heard you, you were talking about fighting some guy who you didn't think could defend themselves!" That coursed some murmuring between the other students.

"I would never hurt anyone like that!" Christian argued.

"So what were you just talking about then?!" another student asked.

"If you must know we were talking about defending ourselves from some guys who have attacked me and stalked my friends." Christian stated.

"It's true!" Moka defended.

"Yeah, Christian would never hurt anyone without a reason!" Kurumu added.

"Is that why that class rep is practically dead?" a rather snide boy shouted from somewhere in the cafeteria. Christian automatically looked down with guilt, he clenched his fist as it began to shake. Finding that he had nothing to say to defend himself, he silently began to leave the cafeteria. Angry stares following him as he walked. Moka was quick to follow her friend while Kurumu and Yukari stayed behind to try and preach Christian's case.

"Yeah, that's right, leave!" One student shouted after him. "Hey, the bus is coming today! Why don't you just get on it and leave!" Christian managed to hear those words as he left the room.

Once outside, Christian began making a beeline for the front gate, his hair over shadowing his eyes. However he found himself stopped as Moka, who had caught up to him, grabbed him hand. "Chris, please don't listen to what those people said. They don't know what happened in the woods." She said trying to console her friend.

"It's not that Moka…" Christian replied quietly, surprising Moka. "I just feel so useless right now…"

"Chris…" Moka said sadly, looking at the boy with tearful eyes. Suddenly, Christian broke free of Moka's hold and began running.

"I'm sorry, I just need to be alone right now!" he called as he ran, leaving Moka reaching out her hand for him despite the fact Christian had already gone.

"Chris…" Moka repeated, watching his slowly retreating figure.

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Back inside the cafeteria, Kurumu and Yukari were having a field day trying to clear Christian's name.

"Christian only did what he did because he was angry that Moka was hurt!" Kurumu protested. "Anyone would be angry in that situation!"

"That still doesn't give him the right to almost kill someone!" one of the female students in the crowd that surrounded Kurumu and Yukari.

"Yeah!" Another student agreed. "How do we know he won't attack us?!"

"Maybe we should get him before he tries to hurt us!" came another shout.

"Christian would never do that!" Yukari cried. "He saved my life from that rep and I refuse to believe he would just attack people without a reason!"

"Yeah! You tell'em!" A voice suddenly sounded.

Everyone turned to look towards the voice and saw Zack standing behind the massive crowd of students, a smile on his face and his hands in his school blazers pockets. "Bro would never hurt a person with ill intent. If these guys don't believe that then they can all go and suck a lemon."

Everyone stared at Zack wide eyed. "Zack!" Yukari and Kurumu cried.

"Who're you?" One of the students asked.

"They just said." Zack replied, pointing to his two friends. He then began walking towards the crowd, forcing it to part as he walked past them. "Listen!" He shouted out. "I don't care what you guys think happened out in the woods, I don't care about your attitudes towards my friend! But!" He then pointed a finger at the boy who suggested attacking Christian. "If you think that you can just attack Bro then you have another thing coming!" He then stuck his hand out to the side and slowly began to circle. "So, if anyone want to get to my friend then you will have to go through me! I will take any one of you on, any time, anywhere!"

Yukari and Kurumu shared a worried glance. Honestly, they didn't think Zack would be able to put his money where his mouth was. Suddenly though, Zack turned to the girls. "Maybe you two should go and look for Bro." He told them. "I don't know why, but I think that he may need some company right now." The girls shared another look, not wanting to leave Zack on his own. "Hey!" the girls looked up to see Zack with a confident smile. "I'll be fine, just go and check on Bro."

For some reason the smile reassured the girls that he was going to be okay. "Ok, just don't do anything crazy." Kurumu said as she began to run off.

"Yeah, we'll see you later." Yukari said with a smile and a wave as she followed Kurumu. "Kick their butts!"

Once they left, Zack turned with a smirk back to the crowd of students he had pissed off. "So…who's first?"

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The girls had soon found Moka standing at the school gates. The vampire girl told them what had happened with Christian before Kurumu and Yukari told Moka what Zack had done. While they were worried about Zack, they knew Christian was their real concern at the moment. They figured that Christian would head to lessons. However when they asked Miss Nekonome whether she had seen their friend, she had told them that he had gone back to the dorms for the day as he wasn't feeling well. Unfortunately they were unable to leave as there were still lessons going on.

Therefore the girls had to wait for the school day to end. As they did so, their nerves began to rise as they worried about their friend.

'_Chris, please don't do anything stupid…' _Moka thought nervously.

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Inside his own classroom, Zack was trembling with anticipation. He was going to be fighting five students who had challenged him at lunch. He couldn't wait, he really wanted to test his skills against other monsters. However his thoughts did linger to his friend. Christian had been acting out of it recently and Zack knew that Christian was going to need some closure if was ever going be able to protect anyone.

Zack knew Christian was human, he knew that he wouldn't be able to protect himself unless he used that thing on his wrist. Zack moved his right hand to his chin in thought as he looked at his left wrist.

'_What would happen if I…?'_

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Christian sat in his dorm room against one of the walls. He had long since changed in to casual clothing. He was wearing a white shirt with his black jacket and blue jeans.

His thoughts were preoccupied with what the other students had said at lunch. He felt bad for leaving Moka on her own but he needed some time to think about what he should do. And now he had finally come to a decision.

He looked at the Omnitrix, and with a few sweeps on its touch screen the time was displayed. Ben had taught Christian this little trick back when Christian had been learning to use it. It was 3:30 pm, school would be ending around now. However, that also meant something else. With a sigh, Christian got up and went over to his back pack. Slinging it over his shoulder, he put on his shoes and left the room, locking it behind him. From there, he headed downstairs and walked away from the dorms.

However as Christian left, a certain boy who had snuck out of lessons early waiting for his five fighting opponents noticed Christian's retreating figure as he turned at the crossroads between the cliffs and the school campus. With a sigh, the boy turned around and continued waiting. However this meant that he missed three more figures as they ran towards the crossroad path that led to the cliffs.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As soon as school had finished, Moka, Kurumu and Yukari had rushed to the dorms. They were desperate to talk to their friend and check that he was all right. They ran up the stairs, causing every guy they passed to ogle them, surprised that the cutest girls in the school had just ran past them.

Upon reaching Christian's door, Kurumu began knocking on it loudly.

"Hey, Chris! Open the door! It's me Kurumu! Open the door and we can have some fun!" Kurumu cried, causing the other girls to sweat drop. When there was no answer, Kurumu tried knocking again, and ended up with the same result.

"I don't think he's in Kurumu…" Yukari said sadly.

Frustrated, Kurumu stamped her foot on the ground. "Then where is he!?" She shouted. Moka and Yukari looked down sadly as they were unable to answer.

The demoralised girls made their way downstairs. Once they left the dorms, they were about to start searching again when they heard the shout of a familiar voice.

"Moka, Kurumu, Yukari! Over here!"

Said girls turned towards the voice to see Zack smiling and waving at them childishly. He was sat on a gravestone and looked like he was waiting for someone.

"Zack, what are you doing?" Moka asked as the girls approached him.

"Waiting." He simply replied.

"For…?" Yukari asked, a small sweat drop on the side of her head.

"People." Zack stated as if it was obvious as he began waving his legs on the grave stone.

"Ok…" Kurumu sighed, smiling awkwardly.

"Zack, have you seen Christian anywhere?" Moka asked desperately wanting to find her friend.

"Bro?" Zack remarked putting his hand to his chin as if he was in thought. "Oh yeah!" he cried before turning and pointing towards the crossroads. "I watched him go down one of those roads, unfortunately I don't know which one. But I can tell you that he was wearing casual clothing and had a back pack with him." After he told them that, the boy got up and began to walk into the forest. "See you guys later, I have some people to find myself." With those words Zack vanished in to the trees.

However Moka didn't notice. She looked at the paths and began to think about what she had just been told. Suddenly her eyes widened in fear as she put the pieces together and came up with the only conclusion she had in her mind.

Seeing Moka's expression, Yukari became concerned. "What's wrong, Moka?" She asked, worried about the answer she would receive.

"Guys we need to hurry to the bus stop right away." Moka told her friends.

"Why?" Kurumu asked, also fearing the answer.

"I think Christian might be going back to the human world!" Moka told them.

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The fan club trio stood on the edge of the cliff near the bus stop, frustrated. They had arrived when they were trying to follow Christian in order to fight him. However, the boy was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is that gaijin?" Gouzaburou asked, looking around.

"Are you sure that he went down this route, Kubisaku?" Kouzou asked his fellow member.

"Pretty sure, although it was kind of hard to see him." Kubisaku replied. He was honestly unsure.

"Maybe he got on a bus and left the school." Gouzaburou suggested, causing Kouzou to walk over and check the bus schedule.

"No dice." Kouzou told them. "The bus doesn't arrive for another 30 minutes. He can't have left yet."

The trio all looked at each other in confusion and thought as they wondered where their 'sworn' enemy was. Unable to think of anything, they began to walk away from the cliff when they heard a shout that made them stop in their tracks with excitement.

"Christian!"

Before the three boys, running towards them was Moka, Kurumu and Yukari. The three boys went goo-goo eyed to see their goddesses.

"It's my Moka!" Kouzou cried happily.

"And my sweet, Kurumu!" Gouzaburou swooned.

"And Yukari!" Kubisaku squealed.

However upon seeing the boys the three girls stopped in their track and looked angrily at them.

"What are you three doing her!?" Kurumu demanded.

"We are here to win your love my Goddess!" Gouzaburou answered, causing the girl of his affections to give him a disgusted look.

"Yes! Once we find him, we plan to take down Hawke and break his hold over you!" Kubisaku announced.

"WHAT!" the three girls cried.

"It's true, just wait a little longer!" Kouzou announced. "Soon you shall be free of that murderous gaijin's influence!"

Moka scowled at Kouzou's words about her friend. "He is not murderous!" She shouted angrily. "We have said it so many times! Christian only did what he did in order to protect us from those lizard men!"

"Yeah!" Yukari cried in agreement. "The only reason Christian hurt the rep like that was because he was angry that Moka got hurt!"

"You guys are the lowest of the low if you decide to judge someone for his actions when you don't even know the circumstances in why he took them!" Kurumu added. Once she had finished, all the girls stared at the trio of boys with hard glares. To their surprise, tears began to flow from the fan boys eyes.

"Hawke, he's so mean!" Gouzaburou wept.

"He's not even here and he's stealing our women from us!" Kubisaku cried.

"I guess we have no choice..." Kouzou said sadly, reaching for his megaphone. "If we want to take you back from that gaijin then we are going to have to do it by force!"

Hearing this, the three girls prepared themselves for a fight, Yukari took out her wand and Kurumu transformed into her succubus form, growing her wings and tail. Her finger nails also extended out to sharp blades. Moka just got into a fighting stance, determined to help despite not being able to use her full strength (or knowing properly how to fight.).

Suddenly to the girl's surprise, Kouzou placed his megaphone over his head and it immediately extended into a brown umbrella covering the top half of his body. One large eye and a mouth appeared with a tongue hanging out on the umbrella for a face. "Umbrella!" the transformed Kouzou shouted.

"Bloooob!" Gouzaburou shouted as he gained more weight, ripping open his shirt exposing his chest. His face also lost all of its facial features.

"Stretchy Neck!" Kubisaku exclaimed as his neck began to stretch out until it was three times the size of his body.

The girls relaxed as they stared at the trio of monsters, knowing they weren't very strong. "Those are your monster forms!?" Kurumu asked, trying to hold back her laughter.

"I hoped you would never see me this way." Gouzaburou said sadly, well at least it sounded sad; it was kind of hard to tell without a facial expression.

"Now you see why we hate Hawke!" Kouzou shouted, his tongue moving around all over the place. "The girls at this school always go after the cool looking monsters. With forms like these, we stand no chance. But Hawke has you!" he cried, looking directly at the girls. "He doesn't even need to be in one form to attract you!"

"What?!" Moka cried. "What Christian is has nothing to do with why we like him!"

"Yeah, right!" Kubisaku retorted. "You're just saying that!"

"Enough of this!" Kouzou shouted. "It's time to reclaim our goddesses! Fan Club Coalition, Charge!" and with that, the trio charged at their respective girls.

Kubisaku curled his neck around Yukari, but didn't touch her. "Yukari, my love! You're a ripe fruit waiting to be plucked! I'm gonna wrap myself around that smoking hot little body of yours!" he proclaimed.

"Gross! Get away!" Yukari shouted running away from her attacker, too disturbed to fight back.

"Kurumu! I have an unlimited abundance of love for you, so let's gaze lovingly at each other as the sun rises!" Gouzaburou asked.

Kurumu cringed at the thought and gulped. "How am I supposed to gaze at anything if you don't even have a face, you big fat freak!?" She shouted as she attempted to stab the boy with her claws, but his fat stomach absorbed the blows.

Kouzou approached Moka, his umbrella top spinning, his saliva splattering all around as it escaped his mouth. "Moka, let me be your umbrella of love! With me around, the harmful rays of the sun will never reach your lovely alabaster skin!" he proclaimed.

"Uh, thanks, but I already have an umbrella." Moka told him, dodging out of the way of the incoming saliva as Kouzou came closer towards her. "Ugh! Get away!" she cried as she jumped back.

Unfortunately, the girls could do nothing to fight their opponents and were backed into the side of the hill near the bus stop.

"What are we gonna do, Moka?" Yukari asked, scared.

"I don't know." Moka replied, staring at the three approaching boys with fearful eyes.

"It's finally time that we claim our goddess's!" Kubisaku cried.

"Yes!" Kouzou replied. "Now let's-!"

"What's going on here!?" A familiar voice shouted.

The six teens turned to look towards the new voice. Standing a few feet away from them was a casual clothed Christian, a bulging backpack slung over his shoulder.

"Christian!" the girls cried happily.

"Hawke!" the trio of monsters growled angrily. "What are you doing here?!"

"That's none of your business!" Christian retorted, reaching for left wrist before hesitating slightly. Finally he withdrew his hand and just settled for glaring at the boys. However Moka saw this and her smile fell a little. "What are you doing to my friends!?" Christian demanded.

"We are freeing them from your influence, gaijin!" Kubisaku shouted.

"Yeah, so stay out of this!" Gouzaburou added.

Christian suddenly realised who he was talking to. He looked over the three of them before trying not to laugh. However the Fan boys saw this, making them angry.

"Oh, so now you're making fun of us!" Kouzou shouted.

"I didn't say anything!" Christian replied raising his hands in mock surrender, a small smile on his face.

"We know, we're low class monsters." Gouzaburou said sadly. "It's why we are looked down upon."

"And it sucks because looking like this we don't stand a chance with any girl!" Kubisaku shouted.

"I sure there is someone out there for you." Christian said, trying to settle the issue calmly.

"Shut up!" Kouzou shouted. "You can't talk! You look down on us to! However that changes today! We'll take you out now and prove to our goddesses that we are the ones worthy of their attention!"

With that all three of the monster trio ran towards Christian. The boy in return threw down his backpack and went to use the Omnitrix. However just as he was about to activate it, he hesitated remembering what had happened the last time he transformed. It was this moment of hesitation that gave the fan boys the chance they needed to get a hold of Christian.

Kubisaku wrapped his long neck around Christian's legs, waist and arms. "Struggle all you want, you won't squeeze your way out of this one!" he cried, keeping Christian from moving.

Kouzou hopped on to Christian's stomach and began to stomp on it. "We won't let you reign on our parade, by stealing the women we love!"

Finally, Gouzaburou then began to suck up Christian's legs in to his stomach. "We'll never let you chew the fat with our darlings ever again.

"Stupid puns!" Christian shouted as he struggled to get free.

"Get your hands…I mean, neck off of him!" Moka shouted, getting the boy' attention. However when they looked at her something seemed off. They saw Moka and Yukari standing there, Moka glaring at them while Yukari just smiled innocently at them. It was then that Yukari pointed up with a confident smirk.

The three boys looked up to see a very angry Kurumu flying above them. Suddenly the girl did a loopdeloop in the air before charging straight at the fan boys. The collision caused them to let go of Christian which sent him flying into the air. Yukari was quick to react by using her magic to summon a bubble chair which Christian fell into.

Christian looked up to see Moka, standing two feet from him. He smiled at her as she knelt down until they were eye to eye. "I owe you guys a lot, I'm sorry you got mixed up in-" Christian began before Moka put a stop to him.

SMACK

Moka slapped him right across the face, surprising not only Christian, but Kurumu and Yukari too. Christian looked at Moka to see tears running down her face. She grabbed him by his collar and buried her face into his chest as she cried out her feelings, her voice slightly muffled. "You moron! What were you thinking!? Why didn't you tell us what you were going to do?! Jerk! Idiot!" she then looked up at him, allowing Christian to see her eyes. A kind smile appeared on her face. "What happened in the forest was not your fault. You were just upset, you didn't mean to hurt him. Don't be afraid of your power. Your kind heart and willingness to protect your friends are your greatest strength. Please never forget that."

"She's right, Chris." Yukari chimed in. "If it wasn't for you, I would probably be dead right now. Your kind words saved me, you even stood up for me."

"You saved me from the other Moka, even after everything I did to you." Kurumu added with a wink.

"We're your friends." Moka said with a smile, wiping away her tears. "And friends do everything they can to help one another. If there is something bothering you, tell us. We can help you. So please don't leave."

Christian looked at Moka in confusion. "What are you…" Christian was interrupted by the sound of crying coming from the side of them.

The four looked to see the fan boys weeping. An impressive feat from Gouzaburou who had no eyes. It was clear their hatred for Christian had only risen.

"Damn it, now he's stealing our women in front of us!" Kouzou whined.

"He's hogging all the love!" Kubisaku whined.

"That does it! Hawke you're in violation of the Romance/Anti-trust Act!" Gouzaburou shouted. "I'm gonna blob you in to a blob if it's the last blobbin' thing I ever blobby do!"

Christian looked to the trio, then to the girls in front of him. Suddenly, Christian realised what he had to do. He rose from the chair, causing it to disappear. The girls looked at the boy with curiosity as he walked towards the trio.

"Listen to me!" He cried, gaining everyone's attention. "I know you guys hate me, no idea why, but you do. You guys may think I don't deserve to have them as my friends but truth be told…I don't either." The three girls and the trio of boys looked at Christian with looks of confusion. "They have been so kind to me during this time and I have been taking their kindness for granted and for that I am sorry." Christian slowly lifted up his left wrist and activated the Omnitrix and dialled in a hero, exposing the core. "However I think it's time I made up for it!" He shouted, slamming down his right hand on the core, enveloping him in the familiar bright green light that brought happiness to the girls and fear to the fan boys.

Once the light had faded, a new form stood where Christian had once been. The form stood proudly nine feet tall. He resembles an orange and white bipedal tiger with one claw coming out of each wrist. The creature had no tail. It was very muscular and had green eyes. It had stripes on his shoulders, head, legs and upper body. Its jaw, neck, chest plates, hands and feet were white.

"RATH!" The alien shouted as he looked angrily at the three fan boys. "LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN', FAN BOY COALITION!" The alien shouted, pointing a finger at the quivering fan boys. "NOBODY, AND I MEAN NOBODY TRIES TO ATTACK RATH!" Moka, Kurumu and Yukari stared at Rath in awe. They had never expected Christian to act like this when he transformed.

"NOW IT'S TIME FOR A LONG AWAITED ASS KICKING!" Rath cried as he pounded his fists together, before making a run for the trio.

The fan club trio looked at each other in fear. They knew they had no chance in this fight.

"Gentlemen it is time to use are secret weapon." Kouzou said to his cohorts.

"Agreed!" the other two boys quickly agreed, looking at the approaching creature.

However before they could do anything, Rath was upon them. Gouzaburou was sent flying as Rath punched him in the stomach causing a small sonic boom that sent him flying in to the side of the cliff. Fortunately, due to his body mass, he was largely unharmed.

Rath then turned to the other two boys. "LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN' FAN CLUB COALITION! YOU DO NOT DISCUSS SECRET PLANS WHEN RATH IS ABOUT TO POUND ON YA!" He shouted before jumping into the air and pouncing on top of Kubisaku. "THIS'LL TEACH YA TO MESS AROUND WITH MY FRIENDS!" He shouted as he tied Kubisaku's neck into a bow before tossing him over his shoulder, causing him to land on top of Gouzaburou. After that Rath turned to Kouzou, who's legs were knocking together. Rath walked over to him before he was stood directly above him looking down at his one eye. Rath leaned in and glared at him. "Boo." He whispered, causing Kouzou to jump high up into the air in fright. Rath jumped after him. "INCURSION KNUCKLE THRUST!" He screamed as he punched Kouzou in the eye, sending him flying into his friends.

The trio got up slowly, battered and bruised. Kouzou turned to his friends. "We must do it now! If we don't, we will lose in front of our goddesses!"

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU PANSIES TALKING ABOUT!?" Rath demanded as he approached the boys.

"Now, Algamation!" Kouzou shouted.

"Algamation!" Gouzaburou and Kubisaku cried along with their leader.

Kubisaku positioned his now untangled neck so Gouzaburou could stand on it. Kouzou began spinning like a top until he took to the air. He came to a stop on top of Gouzaburou's head. As they made contact, a bright, blinding light. Rath and the girls had to cover their eyes for a moment as the glare died down. When it did, they all got a surprise.

Where the three monsters originally stood, one big monster was now in their place. He had a large fleshy body with a face on its chest. His back held an umbrella while the head on its shoulders had brown hair and a single eye and a really long neck. He was wearing the same pink jacket that the fan boys had.

Rath looked at the new monster in angry. "HEY! THAT'S CHEATING!" He shouted, pointing a finger at the monster before turning to the girls. "HOW COME THEY CAN DO THAT?!" the girls did nothing but shrug their shoulders, not wanting to be on the receiving end of one of Rath's rants.

The monster looked down at Rath and began to laugh causing the alien to turn back to it. "Not so tiny now, are we pipsqueak!? You can call us Big Bro!" he mocked in a combination of the three fan boy's voices.

The girls looked at the amalgamated monster with looks of awe and worry. However Rath just got angrier.

"PIPSQUEAK!? PIPSQUEAK!? LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN' COMBINED FAN CLUB COALITION MEMBERS! NOBODY CALLS RATH A PIPSQUEAK!" He shouted, not intimidated in the slightest. "YOU THINK TURNING INTO A BIG MONSTER THING IS GOING TO HELP YOU AGAINST RATH!? RATH HAS TAKEN DOWN OPPONENTS WAY BIGGER THAN YOU!"

"Prove it then!" Big Bro taunted.

"FINE!" Rath shouted as he began running towards the monster, the girls wondering how Christian transforming into Rath could make him so confident and stupid.

Once he was close enough, Rath jumped up at Big Bro, determined to hit him. However he didn't get close as the amalgamated monster swatted him away like a fly, causing Rath to be sent crashing into the girls.

"Hahahahaha!" Big Bro laughed. "Is that all you've...What the...?!" Big Bro had been interrupted by a bright violet light and the release of a tremendous amount of monster energy. It had appeared that when Rath had crashed into the girls, he had managed to pull off Moka's Rosario in the process, releasing her vampire side. However, Rath ignored the transformation as when he had gotten off the ground and saw the Rosario in his hand, he began shouting at the inanimate object gaining everyone's attention.

"LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN' MOKA'S ROSARIO! RATH IS TIRED OF YOU COMING OFF ALL THE TIME! THIS IS RATH'S FIGHT! NO VAMPIRES ALLOWED!" He shouted, not noticing the transformed Inner Moka glaring at his back.

"Are you done acting like a fool?" Inner Moka sneered at Rath, causing him to turn his attention to her.

"LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN' INNER MOKA AKASHIYA!" he shouted as he walked over to her and pointed a finger at her, annoying the vampire girl further. "NO ONE TALKS DOWN TO RATH BUT RATH!"

"What you say does not matter to me." Inner Moka replied, turning away from the angry tiger like alien.

"HEY! TURN BACK RIGHT NOW AND TALK TO RATH!" Rath shouted angrily.

"What was that?!" Inner Moka asked with a deadly calm voice, turning to face Rath with cold eyes. "Do I need to remind you of your place?" She asked, ready to kick the alien if he tried anything.

"MY PLACE!? MY PLACE!? LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN' INNER MOKA AKASHIYA IF ANYONE IS GOING TO TEACH RATH HIS PLACE ITS RATH!" He then realised what he had just said. "THAT IS BEFORE HE TEACHES YOU YOUR PLACE... WHICH IS BELOW RATH!" he added for good measure.

Yukari looked at their two friends and could literally see the sparks colliding. She and Kurumu hastily tried to stop the two arguing. Unbeknownst to the four, Big Bro had been having his own moment ever since Inner Moka appeared. "So cold..." He began before beginning to cry in happiness. "That silky silver hair, those cold but beautiful eyes... she is the one we have been waiting for, the true idol." As he finished his sentence, Big Bro began running towards the four friends.

Hearing his thundering footsteps, Inner Moka stopped her argument with Rath to glare at Big Bro. "Pests" she said under her breath as she began making her way towards the combined monster.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE INNER MOKA! WE AIN'T DONE ARGUING YET!" Rath shouted after her; however Inner Moka didn't even bother to turn back to him. "DON'T IGNORE ME!" Rath cried angrily, kicking the ground.

"Yukari, Kurumu!" Moka called, earning the girls attention. "Help me out with this!"

The two girls smirked before Kurumu took to the air again and Yukari ran around to the side.

"Magic wand, let's rock!" Yukari cried, conjuring a boulder out of nowhere that caused Big Bro to trip.

"Take this dorks!" Kurumu exclaimed as she flew down at high speeds before turning and spear kicking the monster in the back making it fall towards Inner Moka.

"Look out!" Big Bro cried, as he fell towards Moka.

"Get lost losers." Inner Moka said simply as with two swift kicks, she sent the amalgamated monster flying high in to the air. As Big Bro descended, he turned back into the three fan boys in their human forms, causing them to crash hard into the ground.

As the boys got up, they looked up and soiled themselves to see Rath standing above them with an angry snarl. "NOW LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING FAN CLUB COALITION! YOU WILL LEAVE RATH AND HIS FRIENDS ALONE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?" The fan boys nodded their heads slightly. "GOOD! NOW, GET LOST!" Rath roared making the fan boys take off to both hide and find a new set of underwear. "Wimps." Rath muttered to himself before the Omnitrix began beeping reverting him back into Christian. He quickly walked over to pick up his backpack that had been lying on the ground since the fight began. However when Christian turned around, he was met with Inner Moka staring at him.

"Hawke!" She called out.

"Yes, ma'am!" Christian replied as he jumped to attention in fear of angering the woman.

"Your leaving doesn't work for me." Inner Moka told him, her arms crossed as she walked past him. "Because if you left, that would mean no more food for yours truly." She said with a small smile, exposing her fangs. "And besides… it would make the other Moka sad. You'd break her heart."

Christian looked at the girl with confusion on his face. "Wha…? I'm not…" Christian tried to explain. However, before he could say anything else, Kurumu gently grabbed a hold of his arm. "Not having Moka drink your blood would be a good thing. But I'd miss you too much." Kurumu said with pleading eyes.

Yukari then ran up and latched on to him, hugging him while crying. "Please, Chris! Don't leave!"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you guys. I'm not leaving." Christian finally managed to say.

The girl's eyes lit up with surprise, even Inner Moka's. They hadn't been expecting that answer.

"But, Zack saw you leaving with that bag!" Yukari pointed out, referring to his backpack. "You're even wearing casual clothes!"

"That's because I like being in these clothes." Christian explained. "They remind me of my home in America. Besides, I don't normally wear my uniform after school."

"So why is your backpack here?" Kurumu asked.

"I was running out of food so I went out to buy more." Christian explained. "Remember there are two crossroads. One that leads here, another that leads to the school campus where the shops are. Zack may have seen me walk towards the crossroads, but I bet he didn't see which path I took."

The girls thought about what Christian had told them. They realised that Zack hadn't actually said which path Christian had taken.

"But then…why are you at the bus stop?" Yukari asked, confused.

"On my way back to the dorm, I heard shouting coming from this direction and I ran to see what was going on." Christian explained.

"So you wanting to leave…" Kurumu began.

"Was a mistake in Moka's judgement?" Yukari finished before the three of them stared at Inner Moka.

The vampire girl simply turned away in a huff.

The sound of a bus horn alerted the teens to the arrival of bus. It stopped a few meters away from the four and the bus driver stepped out, his hidden eyes staring directly at Christian. "So, kid…are you heading home?" he asked but the bus driver already seemed to know the answer.

Smiling, Christian replied, "Sorry, but I'm staying here for now. I have friends here who can never be replaced. Besides, I have a mission I need to accomplish." Unbeknownst to Christian, the girls behind him were blushing. Inner Moka did a good job of hiding it, but there was definitely one there despite it being small.

With a nod, the bus driver said a goodbye and got back on the bus and drove away. "Good luck kid, it's commendable that you're sticking around. Gotta admit, for a Plumber, you're taking a long and twisted road." The bus driver said to himself as he drove through the dimensional tunnel.

Back with Christian and the girls, Inner Moka walked over to Christian and snatched the Rosario from his hand. "I swear, you are so confusing." She said as she reattached the Rosario to her chocker. However before her transformation was undone, she sent one last glare at Christian. "If you ever talk back to me again, I will punish you." Those were her last words before the transformation was complete, leaving the tired Outer Moka to fall forward.

Noticing this, Christian quickly rushed forward to catch her.

"Please…don't leave…" Moka mumbled in her sleep as tears began to form.

Christian looked to see the sad eye treatment Kurumu and Yukari were giving him.

"Don't worry, I won't be leaving anytime soon. I still have a job to do." He told them, earning a smile from the other girls.

'_And I don't plan on leaving if it means I need to leave you guys." _Christian thought, looking down at the unconscious Moka in his arms. '_Especially you, Moka.'_

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Back behind the dorms, Zack stood on his own with the bodies of five unconscious monsters around him. The monsters bodies were all battered and bruised whereas Zack was barely scratched.

"Well that was fun while it lasted." Zack said to himself, letting out a sigh of annoyance. "That wasn't even a challenge, why did they have to be weak monsters?" He looked up to the sky, fully knowing that Christian was still at the school. He began to walk away with a small smirk. "I look forward to our fight, Bro."

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The next day in Miss Nekonome's class, said teacher had an announcement.

"They have just installed some phones in the campus store that will connect you to the human world." Miss Nekonome told the class. "Furthermore the bus that came here once a month, well due to overwhelming demands, it shall now be coming here once a day."

Hearing this Moka poked Christian in the back with her pencil to get his attention. "Isn't that great Chris? Now you can call your friends in America."

"Yeah." Christian replied with a smile.

Suddenly, Moka's nose twitched. "Oh, Chris…" Moka said with a smile and a blush. "You smell nice."

Knowing what was going to happen, Christian raised his arms in defence. "No, wait! Moka!" Christian protested to no avail as Moka jumped over the desk towards Christian.

CHUUUU!

"Moka! Stop! We're in the middle of class!" Christian shouted hopelessly.

**And there you go.**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter and Rath's debut. It was interesting writing that part. As always leave your reviews and I look forward to seeing you next time. **

**Bye!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey everybody, it's my birthday today and I'm now 16 and as a gift for everyone I give you the next chapter. The chapter is shorter than normal as I couldn't really find a lot to write about the events that happen in this part of the manga/anime. I promise the next one will be longer. I have noticed from the reviews that you would like the chapters to be more original and differ from the anime and manga. I just wanted to let everyone know that the story will diverge from them however that will be later on. For now I'm just setting the scene for a bigger event that will happen later.**

**So far the vote between Sixsix and Khyber is equal. This vote ends next Friday. However a friend suggested to me the idea of including both bounty hunters in the story. If you like this idea more than just having one of the bounty hunters just say so in the reviews.**

**Please leave your reviews as normal. I hope you enjoy. **

"**..." Speech**

'**...' Quote **

'**H**_**i' Thought**_

"**Learn your place!" **Inner Moka through Rosario

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC; creative rights for Zack go to Lewamus Prime.**

**Alien Watch in a Monster School**

**Trouble at the pool **

It was another day at Yokai and the campus of the academy was packed with a combination of students, stalls and booths advertising different clubs. Every student was checking to find the clubs they wanted to join.

Amidst the rabble of students, Christian and Moka admired the vast variety of different clubs that were available.

Earlier that day, Miss Nekonome had announced that part of the school curriculum was that it was mandatory for students to join a club. Apparently it was a way to make monsters more accustomed to the human world so they would be able to adapt to it more easily to human society. Then a student had pointed out that her tail was sticking out and the cat like teacher went mental on the students face.

After that, Christian had not only made a mental note never to piss his teacher off, but also decided he needed to find a normal club to be in.

Classes had ended early that day in order for the students to go around and look for a club that suited them at what Miss Nekonome called the 'club fair'. Before they left, Miss Nekonome had reminded everyone to visit the newspaper club which was the club she advised.

Now the students were just wondering around, choosing the clubs best suited for them. "There sure are a lot of clubs." Christian commented.

"Yep." She said as an idea popped into her head. "I know; lets join the same club!" she exclaimed, latching on to Christian's arm and dragging him towards the different booths.

Of course finding a one they would both enjoy was easier said than done when they attended a school named 'Yokai Academy'.

"Care to join the Photography club, and take pictures of ghosts?" a creepy guy with massive eyes asked, holding a camera and numerous photos of white figures.

The reply was Moka running into Christian's arms with a startled scream.

They didn't have much luck at the next booth either.

"Want to join the Acupuncture Club?" A hulking, green and bald boy asked with needles all over his body.

The answer was the same answer the Photography club got with Moka running into Christian's arms with a startled scream, a small smile on her face.

Or the next.

"Mummy Club?" A mummy asked

Once again, Moka ran into Christian's arms with the same scream, her smile still present.

Or the next.

"Won't you join the Chemistry Club, Moka?" A boy wearing a lab coat, holding a bubbling, purple flask asked. "You can test our love potions. We'll even let that Gaijin join."

Once again, Moka screamed. But this time she actually jumped into Christian's arms, forcing him to catch her bridal style. Moka's face had a massive smile on it now and a small blush.

'_She's been doing this on purpose...' _Christian thought as he put the girl down, hiding his own blush.

The pair kept looking around until they noticed a group of guys crowding around a single booth. Being curious, the two friends decided to take a look at the stall to see what all the fuss was about. Upon their approach, the boys all turned around to glare hatefully at Christian, their eyes burning with hatred. Attitudes towards the boy hadn't changed. Everyone still hated him for the incident with the Class Rep and were still threatening him whenever he was alone. Christian had long gotten over it but it was still disconcerting to get those looks; especially since they were actually monsters and he was human. However, after a few moments, the boys turned around and let the Plumber be.

Christian and Moka edged closer to the group, being careful not to get too close in case the boys should try to attack him, or jump back in fear of him. As it turns out, it was the Swimming Club's booth that was so exciting, mainly because the people on hand were all girls in bikinis. One girl stood at the front of the others, staring at the boys standing in front of her booth.

"Hello, I'm Tamao Ichinose, captain of the swim team. Would you like to swim with us?" the girl asked in a sweet voice that sent all the boys, except Christian, gaga.

Tamao looked like she was a second year student with turquoise coloured hair, fair skin and cyan coloured eyes. She wore had a purple bikini and a sarong wrapped around her waist.

"As of now, the swim club consists of only female members. So, any guys joining us will receive special treatment from the seniors." Tamao said, making them once again go crazy.

'_Perverts.'_ Christian thought with a mental sigh. He was the only one out of the boys currently in front of the booth that was unaffected by girls charms.

"Chris…?" Moka asked with an unsure voice, pulling at the teen's jacket sleeve.

Christian turned to see the uneasy face his friend had as she eyed the swimming club. "Yeah, Moka?" he asked.

"Do…do you want to join this club?" She asked with a nervous voice.

Christian looked from all the guys fighting each other to join the swim club back to his friend. "Not really. Considering everyone hates me, I doubt I will be very welcome in a club like this. Besides, you don't seem comfortable with the idea." He answered.

Moka's face brightened up, happy with the answer. "Then let's go and look at other clubs." She said cheerfully.

However as the two turned to leave, a voice stopped the two friends.

"Ah, are you leaving then?"

The two turned to see Tamao Ichinose looking at the two of them. Well to be more accurate, Christian. "I was hoping the amazingly strong American Doppelganger would join our club." She said in a flirty tone, earning the attention of every single boy scrabbling to join the Swim Club. They glared at Christian angrily, who was looking from side to side nervously, afraid of their reactions.

Moka was also glaring, only at Tamao and how she was acting around Christian. She was quick to grab the teens's arm, giving Tamao a dirty look. "I'm sorry, but, Christian and I were going to look at some other clubs." Moka explained in a stern tone. If one were listening closely they would also have detected a hint of jealousy.

However the friendly look on Tamao's face never left. "Really? Well, it just so happens that the Swimming Club is holding a swimsuit contest and the members from all the different clubs will be there. Why don't you come as well? That way, you don't need search for them as they will all be in the same place. Instead of looking for them, let them come to you."

Christian was still unsure about the idea, especially due to the Swimsuit Contest; however he could see the logic to Tamao's suggestion. "With my current rep at school, I highly doubt other clubs are going to come over and ask me to join but, it does make some sense." Christian looked at his friend. "What do you think, Moka?" Christian knew his friend was nervous about the idea and he wasn't about to force Moka to go with him. If she didn't want to it also gave him an excuse not to go.

Moka unconsciously gripped her Rosario, nervously looking at Christian. "Well...the thing is..." she began to explain.

"I heard that you're a vampire, Moka Akashiya." Tamao interrupted. "I wonder if all the rumours about them are true."

"What rumours?" Christian asked, curious about what the girls were talking about.

"It's nothing." Moka quickly answered, moving to stand in front of Christian. "We'll be there!" she declared to Tamao.

Tamao's smile grew slightly at the statement. "Good." She replied as she walked away with the rest of her club. "Don't forget your swimsuits."

Christian gave Moka a concerned look as he watched her stare daggers into Tamao's back. '_What was that all about?'_ he asked himself. "Moka, are you sure your ok with this? We don't have to go if you don't want to." He said to her.

Moka looked a little relieved at the comment but she still seemed sad. "As much as I don't want to go, it will give us a chance to join other clubs. Plus...I already said we'd go." She replied with resignation. She then grabbed his arm and began to walk towards the pool slowly. "C'mon we may as well go now and get it over with."

As Christian walked with Moka, he couldn't help but worry about her. What was she not telling him?

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Christian could honestly say that he wasn't ready for the scene that awaited him at the pool. As he stood there in his black and green swim trunks he found himself flushing with wide eyes at the scene before him.

It could only be described as every teenage boy's fantasy. There were pretty girls in bikinis everywhere he looked. Each guy who had joined the club was trying to get their attention receiving no signs of rejection. It seemed too good to be true they were getting along.

Christian tore his eyes away from the scene to look at Moka, who was standing at the metal chain link fence that surrounded the pool. She was still wearing her school uniform and she looked extremely uncomfortable and skittish just being around the pool. Worried, the teen decided to talk to her.

"Christian!"

Christian stopped and turned towards the voice that had called him only for his face to light up like a Christmas tree. "Ku-Kurumu!" He exclaimed. "Wh-What are you wearing?" he asked, his voice extremely squeaky.

"Do you like it?" Kurumu asked with a smirk, doing an alluring pose. She was wearing a yellow two piece swimsuit with the top half leaving very little to the imagination. She didn't give him any time to answer as she grabbed one of his arms and pulled him in to her chest. "Christian, can you please teach me how to swim?" she asked innocently.

Christian's face was as red as it could possibly get. "Umm…Ku…Kurumu…yo-your…bre…"

Kurumu supported him with a blush of her own. "Yeah, they are hurting a bit." She commented, slowly reaching behind her and pulling on the bikini knot.

Steam shot out of Christian's ears as he found himself unable to think straight.

'_Today's the day I make Christian mine.' _Kurumu thought, internally smirking. She stopped messing with the top half of the bikini and re-tied the knot. She then began to mess with the bottom half of the suit. "Do you think this swimsuit is a little tight on me?" she asked flirtatiously.

*KLONG*

Suddenly a large gold wash pan fell from the sky and hit Kurumu on the head, knocking her to the ground.

"Teach me too!" Yukari exclaimed, abruptly appearing before she pulled on Christian's arm. The witch was wearing a blue one piece swimsuit however she was still wearing her hat. While Christian wasn't looking, Yukari sent a glare to her succubus friend/rival. '_I won't let you have your way with him Kurumu.'_ She thought.

Having recovered from the sneak attack, Kurumu latched on to Christian's other arm and tried to pull the boy away from Yukari. "What are you doing? He's mine!" Kurumu cried as she pulled.

Yukari pulled him back towards her. "No he's not!" Yukari exclaimed.

"Give it up you flat chested little girl!"

"It's not like bigger is better!"

Kurumu then stopped the game and put an arm behind her head and the other underneath her breast. "Really? Because when I was your age, mine were already this size." She mocked.

Yukari looked down, slightly disheartened, before a determined look returned to her eye. "Hey, don't you know that the bigger they are, the faster they sag."

That ticked Kurumu off. "What. Was. That?"

It was then the two began fighting. Kurumu put Yukari in a headlock before the young witch escaped and jumped on Kurumu's back and pulled her hair. The cycle then began to repeat itself over and over again.

Christian took this 'gifted' opportunity to go and talk to Moka. As the pinkette saw his approach, her expression went from one of nervousness to relief. "Moka, are you alright?" Christian asked.

"I'm fine." Moka said simply.

"Moka, you're clearly not. You have been like this ever since we arrived. You haven't stepped one foot inside the pool area and you're looking at the water like it's a death trap. What's wrong? I'm only worried about you."

While Mok was happy to know Christian cared for her, she didn't feel comfortable admitting whatever was bovering her.

"Christian…It's…you see…" Moka tried to explain before being interrupted.

"Enjoying yourself?" Tamao asked, suddenly appearing behind Christian with a sickly sweet smile.

Christian turned to her and gave a nervous chuckle as Moka huffed upon the girl's appearance.

"It's not exactly what I had in mind." Christian replied, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well you can't exactly enjoy what the Swim Club has to offer unless you get in the water." Tamao stated. She neither gave Christian the chance to reply nor Moka the chance to protest as she quickly took one of Christian's arms and began dragging him towards the pool.

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Moka sat at the side of the fence, brimming with unrivalled jealousy as she watched Tamao give Christian a private 'swimming lesson'.

"Come on, move your arms outward then inward." She instructed as she forced Christian arms to make the movements. As she instructed him, she moved in a little closer to Christian. Seeing this, Moka's jealousy grew exponentially to the level where if you were to look at her, you could see small amounts of flames coming off her.

"Um…Tamao?" Christian began, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. "You're a little close."

"What? Don't you like it? I would have thought a guy like you would love to have a girl near you. Especially since everyone else in the school hates you."

It was then that Christian realised something. "You're right. So why don't you hate me?" He asked, standing straight and looking at her with a questioning look. Everyone else in the school hated his guts. Why was this girl being so nice to him?

Tamao didn't even hesitate with her answer. "I don't tend to judge people by what I have heard about them." She explained, her smile still present. "To me, you don't seem to be the kind of person who would simply attack someone in cold blood."

A small smile crept on to Christian's face, he was honestly happy that someone didn't see him as some kind of psycho attacker. However, it had been a long time since another student, other than his friends, had actually talked to him in a pleasant conversation, that it kind of felt weird to him.

"I'm happy to hear that." Christian replied, still slightly unsure.

Tamao continued to smile before she grabbed a hold Christian's arm and began to resume his 'swimming practice'. "You know, I do know how to swim." Christian commented.

"I know," Tamao commented. "We're just making you…better." She said as she rubbed her assets against his arm as she pulled it back causing Christian to turn bright red.

Moka was now seething with anger as she watched the whole thing. '_Stupid, Christian. Acting all flirty with her.' _She thought. She watched for another minute or so before the final straw came when Tamao pressed herself against Christian's back. "That's enough!" she shouted, earning the two teens' attentions.

At first, Christian looked absolutely relieved by Moka's intervention, however the look on her face automatically turned that emotion to fear. Tamao on the hand showed no emotion whatsoever other than her normal, creepy, ever present smile.

"Christian, you really wanted to join the swim club just so you could meet girls, didn't you!?" Moka accused.

Christian was shocked by Moka's accusation, his expression changing to a hurt one. "Moka, you know that's not what I'm doing here." He protested.

However, Moka's anger had reached a level where she was no longer willing to let Christian even speak. "Don't you dare give me that, Christian Hawke!" Moka screamed, gaining the attention of everyone else at the pool. Seeing the fight between Moka and Christian, the boys at the academy glared happily. Moka Akashiya was finally turning on the Gaijin from America! They were at a pool with girls who actually seemed to want them and the prettiest girl in school seemed to ending whatever relationship she had with the most hated person in the school. To them, this day was the best day of their lives. "I'm not putting up with this!" Moka continued, oblivious to the attention she had gained from her outburst. "Goodbye!" she finished before she started to stomp off.

Before she could even make it two feet, Tamao splashed some water at Moka, causing her to jump away to avoid being hit.

Christian noticed that all of the colour in Moka's face had drained, leaving her pale with fear. '_Is she afraid of the water?' _

Tamao stared at Moka with a smile which could have easily been mistaken as a smirk. "You two sound like an old married couple." She commented. "Listen Akashiya. There's one major rule in life that I was forced to learn in my freshmen year. The only thing a boy and a girl need to know when they grow up, is take or be taken, if you get the meaning. This is the swimming club, so if you're not here to swim, go bother someone else." Tamao finished as she splashed some more water at Moka, which managed to hit her leg.

Moka's face became even paler before she turned and ran from the pool as quickly as she could.

"Moka! Wait!" Christian cried to no avail, sticking out his hand trying to reach her despite her already being gone. Christian put his arm down and looked down in to the water, sad that his friend had gone. He was brought out of his thought when someone put their hand on his shoulder. Christian turned around expecting to see Tamao or even Kurumu or Yukari. However it appeared that the person who had come over to him was just the person he needed to see.

"Hey there Bro."

"Zack…"

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Moka had managed to run a good way away from the pool until she found herself in an alley between two buildings. Her teeth were gritted in pain and blue sparks were shooting over her body giving her tiny electric shocks. To vampires like Moka, water was a great weakness. Even in her sealed state she still felt intense pain just from contact.

Leaning heavily against a wall, her Rosario suddenly lit up and sprang to life, signifying that Inner Moka's conscious was now active. **"You idiot!" **The sealed personality scolded. **"Why did you even go near the pool? You should have stayed away! You know what water does to us!" **

"I know, but I…I just…I want to be with Christian." The Outer Moka said, shivering in pain before sliding down to the ground.

"**Fool, Even Hawke saw that you were scared. He gave you the opportunity to leave several times but you wanted to be in club with him so much that you risked our safety! Now look at you. The human may not know a lot about Vampires, but he does know when his friends are in pain!" **Outer Moka's eyes widened with realisation that Christian had been worried about her the entire time they had been at the pool. He had given her the chance to leave, several times, but she had always declined, fearing what he would do 'with' Tamao if she left. **"It doesn't matter now." **Inner Moka continued. **"Don't go back to the pool, and forget about Hawke. He doesn't understand us; he's not worth the trouble." **

Moka pulled her legs close, hiding her face as she cringed with fear. A few soft sobs escaping her eyes. But the thing she was truly upset about though was the huge, metaphorical wall that had come between her and Christian. "Christian…" she whimpered.

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Back with the othersl, Christian and Zack were sitting at the side of the pool, their feet hanging in the water as they watched Kurumu and Yukari fight in a contest that the club members were hosting. Christian had wanted to go off after Moka but Zack had stopped the teen telling him they needed to talk.

"So what are you doing here?" Christian finally asked after a minute of silence.

"I came because I heard the 'murderous gaijin had joined the swimming club'" Zack quoted in a mocking voice. They stayed quiet for another minute before Christian broke it.

"So…what do you want to talk about?" Christian asked Zack, turning his head to see the teen gazing out into space.

"Oh, I just wanted to catch up." He replied, swinging his legs. Christian noticed his friend was wearing white swim trunks with blue flaming patterns. His chest was unexposed, showing a well-developed six pack. Christian had noticed many of the girls in the swim club blush heavily when they passed by them and caught a glance of his friend. Christian himself was muscular in his own right due to his Plumber training but Zack was a lot more refined. Christian couldn't help but wonder how his friend had gotten that well toned.

"You do realise there are a lot of girls giving you glances, right?" Christian asked him.

"So?" Zack replied. "It doesn't really matter to me. If one girl comes after you, they've all come after you."

Christian looked at his friend in surprise, he couldn't honestly say he felt the same way, especially since he had three different girls throwing themselves at him for the past few weeks. "So this scene does nothing for you?" he asked, gesturing to the pool where Kurumu and Yukari had somehow managed to gather other girls to assist in their mini battle.

"Do what for me?" Zack asked, causing Christian to sweat drop.

"Never mind…" Christian sighed, slightly exasperated. "Speaking of girls, do you have any idea why Moka ran off?" he asked, still concerned about his friend.

"Why wouldn't she run off!?" Zack suddenly exclaimed, springing out his arms in a flailing motion, almost hitting Christian. "She's a vampire! Don't you know anything about your friends?! I was surprised she even came that close to the pool!"

"What do you mean?" Christian asked, having no idea what his friend was talking about.

"You honestly don't know?" Zack questioned. "Vampires can't stand water." He went on to explain. "It quite literally saps their powers and could potentially kill them. A single drop gives them a massive electric shock."

Christian was horrified by this new revelation. He had seen how scared and nervous Moka had been when they had arrived. Hell, she had been panicking at the booth, and he had led her in to what had practically been a death trap to her. He was an idiot. He needed to find Moka and apologise. But, just before he got up, he caught sight of Tamao at the other end of the pool talking with some other members of the Swimming Club. He then remembered the first thing Tamao had said to Moka when they had met her earlier.

"_I heard that you're a vampire, Moka Akashiya. I wonder if all the rumours about them are true." _

It was then that Christian realised Tamao had known about Moka's weakness the entire time she had been there, and she had said nothing. Then she had actually splashed Moka, which meant that she was currently on her own and in pain. Anger began to fill Christian. This girl had purposely hurt his friend. He was definitely going to leave the Swim Club, but not before he gave the bitch of a captain a peace of his mind.

As he got up, Zack turned his head to look at his friend with a knowing smile. "Whatcha going to do now?" He asked childishly.

"I'm just going to have a 'pleasant conversation' with the captain before I leave." Christian replied, not taking his eyes of Tamao.

"Do you mind if I tag along?" Zack asked innocently.

"Not at all." Christian said with gritted teeth as he jumped into the pool and began walking towards Tamao, Zack following suit.

With these two boys teamed up, Tamao would have hell to pay.

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Back in the alley, Moka had regained a little of her strength and had managed to make it back to her feet. However, she had to lean against the wall for support so she could steady herself. She was fully prepared to go back to the pool and apologise to Christian, but her Inner self wasn't ready to let that happen. **"Don't even think about it." **She reprimanded. **"Do you really want to go back there and go through all that again?" **Outer Moka frowned, but Inner Moka wasn't through. **"End your relationship with that human. He doesn't understand your needs, he never will." **

"That's not true!" Moka shouted out, not believing her Inner self. "He's not like that!"

She remembered all the times Christian had stood up for her, Kurumu, Yukari and most recently Zack. He had risked his life in order so that he could protect them. It was because he cared for them, because she and the others were his friends. He never cared what happened to him, all he cared about was that they were safe and happy. That was why he had been trying to find a club that they could all belong to.

"**Even if that's true, you know you can't swim with them." **Inner Moka reminded, a small, undetectable trace of sadness in her voice. **"We couldn't even go near the water…"**

"I don't care." Moka said, moving much better than before with new determination. "I just…I want…I just want to be with Christian!" she cried before she began to make her way back towards the pool. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Christian and Zack marched up to Tamao with stern looks on their faces. They planned to have a small 'chat' with Tamao then they were going to grab Kurumu and Yukari and leave to try and find Moka.

Tamao, who was still talking to the other girls from the club, hadn't noticed their approach until they were standing right in front of her.

"Oh, hello Christian, and you must be the infamous Zackery Orion." She greeted with a smile. Both boys said nothing but continued to look at her angrily. Tamao noticed the looks but her smile never faltered. She then turned to the other girls. "You know what to do." She said simply before turning back to the boys. The other girls giggled before nodding and swimming off, strange smiles on their faces. "What can I do for you Christian?" Tamao asked once the girls had gone.

"I have something I want to say and a question to ask." Christian put simply, his eyes burning with silent rage.

"What do you want to say?" Tamao asked, her smile finally disappearing and being replaced with a frown.

"First, Me and Zack, and Kurumu and Yukari if they want to, won't be joining the swimming club. After what we have seen, we don't think it is the club for us." Christian put simply, Zack was smirking at how lightly he had put it. He knew how much Christian wanted to make a scene at that moment.

"That's a shame." Tamao said with mock sadness. "And your question?"

"Did you know that water can hurt vampires?" Zack asked, both boys already knowing the answer, they only wanted to confirm it.

"I have heard that, yes." Tamao replied, once again smirking, she knew where this conversation was going too. "Why does that matter?" she asked innocently.

Christian's fists were now clenched and shaking lightly as he tried to contain his growing anger. "What it means, is you purposely splashed Moka, full well knowing that it would cause her harm." He said through gritted teeth. Zack was now looking at Christian with a slightly worried expression, his friend was getting too angry again and it did not end well for the last person who did that considering he was still in recovery.

"Aww... you're really infatuated with that girl aren't you?" Tamao mocked. "C'mon, she was only holding you back here. Now that's she's gone, it will be better for everyone." Tamao reasoned unsuccessfully.

"But not for me." Christian said simply before he began to turn to leave. "As I said before, I will not be-"

"AAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Christian was interrupted by a yell of terror that caused him and Zack to look away from Tamao to see what had caused the commotion. What they saw was most of the girls from the swim club biting the guys who had joined on the neck, shoulders or arms, turning them in to shrivelled, pruned husks.

"What's happening?!" Christian asked Zack, who now had a look of realisation on his face.

"Bro, we need to get out of the pool now!" He shouted as he began making his way to the ledge.

"Why?" Christian demanded as he followed suit.

"Because the girls from the club are mermaids!" Zack replied as he reached the side and climbed out. He then turned and held out his hand for Christian to grab so he could pull him out of the pool.

"Mer-?" Christian managed to say before a rope made of seaweed shot out of the water and wrapped itself around his waist. With a sharp yank, he was pulled back towards the deep end of the pool.

"Bro!" Zack cried out, catching the still fighting Kurumu and Yukari's attentions. They stopped their fight to notice Christian being pulled further into the pool, not to mention everything else that was going on.

"Chris!" Kurumu shouted, transforming into her monster form.

"Hang on, were coming!" Yukari added, pulling out her wand from nowhere. But, before she or Kurumu could act, they found themselves held in the grasps of remaining swim club girls.

"Let go!" Kurumu shouted as she struggled to no avail. "Let go of me you bitches!"

"Get off of me you jerks!" Yukari cried, dropping her wand in the process of struggling.

Zack saw this and was torn between helping the still being dragged Christian, or Kurumu and Yukari. Realising that it would be more helpful to Christian if the others helped, he quickly ran over towards the girls. "Normally it goes against my nature to hit girls but in this case I can make an exception!" He cried as he jumped in the air and kicked two of the unsuspecting girls by performing the splits. The kick knocked the two girls out and surprised the others enough to allow Kurumu and Yukari break their hold. Kurumu flew straight up into the air, dragging two other girls with her. After a quick circle in the air, the two mermaids came loose and fell in to the trees surrounding the pool.

"Yahoohoo!" Kurumu cried triumphantly before flying back to the pool.

When Yukari got free, she went straight for her wand. Within instants of her grabbing it, golden washtubs fell from the sky and struck the untransformed mermaids around her, knocking them out and causing them to fall and sink in to the water. "Take that!" She shouted, still holding her wand in front of her confidently. Once Kurumu had come back to the ground, Zack ran over to the girls.

"You girls okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, thanks for the assist." Kurumu replied before looking over to Christian who was still struggling against the seaweed. "C'mon, we need to save Chris!" she cried. However before they could move, ten mermaids appeared out of the water and blocked their route, hissing menacingly at them.

"Looks like we still have some fish to fry." Zack quipped, getting into a fighting stance.

"Let's end this quickly." Kurumu agreed, her nails growing out. "Christian needs our help."

"This shouldn't take too long with us working together." Yukari added, readying her wand. With that, the three jumped in to the pool towards the mermaids

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Back with Christian, the boy was now far into the deep end of the pool. He came to a stop when he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist from behind. It didn't take a genius to work out who was holding him. Christian turned to scowl at none other than Tamao. Christian could tell she had transformed into her monster form. Her ears were now some kind of fin like appendage with a large, orangey fish tail was sticking out of the water behind her.

"Sorry Chrissy boy, I can't just let you escape." Tamao said in a mocking tone, her smile becoming more menacing by the second. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time." She remarked.

"I didn't know I interested you that much." Even though he was putting up a cool façade, Christian was actually quite scared at this point. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Zack, Kurumu and Yukari fighting the other mermaids and there was no way they would make it to him in time before Tamao did to him what the other swim club girls did to the other guys. He tried reaching for the Omnitrix, at this point any of the forms he could transform in to would be useful. However Tamao grabbed his arm to keep it away from the device.

"I don't think so." Tamao commented with a gleeful smile. "You can't transform unless you use your limiter, right?" She taunted.

Christian was beginning to lose his cool now, it was worse when he noticed more of the swarm of mermaids circling him and Tamao like sharks.

"Come on, Tamao."

"Don't hog him all to yourself."

"I want to taste him too"

"Yeah, me too."

"I'm sorry that we have been so rough with you. But you see, I've had my eyes on you since the school year started when I saw you at the opening ceremony." Tamao explained as her mouth elongated and showed rows of razor sharp teeth. She leaned in close and took a giant sniff of his wet hair. "You have such an intoxicating scent…much like a human." With that, Tamao moved in to bite Christian's neck.

"Christian!"

Tamao found herself interrupted by a familiar voice. Everyone looked to the side of the pool to see Moka standing near the water's edge. She took a few steps closer before stalling right before the pool, regarding it with fear.

Seeing this, Tamao moved Christian closer to her and began to mock Moka. "Aww… Come to save your friend. Unfortunately a vampire like you can't fight me while I'm in the water. It's-"

Before she could finish, she found herself startled into silence when Moka selflessly dived headfirst into the water at the deep end. For a single moment nothing happened. Within moments, large amounts of electrical discharges began to spring to life throughout the pool. Moka appeared for one moment, flailing her arms as she tried to take in much needed oxygen.

"Moka!" Christian shouted in horror, trying to get to her. Unfortunately, Tamao's hold was strong. "Let me go!" Christian shouted, thrashing in order to free himself. "I have to save her! Unfortunately though, he couldn't get out. Tears began to form in his eyes as realised he may be unable to save his best friend.

Then, like a miracle, Christian felt Tamao hold break. He fell slightly forwards before catching himself. He turned around to see Zack holding Tamao back using his arms.

"GO!" Zack shouted, struggling to keep Tamao in line.

Christian didn't need telling twice. He automatically turned around and activated the Omnitrix. He quickly scrolled through the selections until he found just the one he needed. Slamming down on the core, Christian dived under the water as the transformation took place. Everyone had to shield their eyes as a magnificent green glow shone through the water. As Christian transformed, he reached out and grabbed Moka. Holding her close to him, Christian ripped off the Rosario with his now webbed hands, hoping that the effects of the water would affect her less if she were in here true form. The water instantly became a mixture of red and green as a massive amount of demonic aura was released.

Before anyone could figure out what was going on, a figure leapt out of the pool and landed on the pool patio.

"Ripjaws!" the creature called out, a semi-conscious Inner Moka in his arms.

Ripjaws had light grey scales with green eyes. He had a fish like head with green fins on his forearms, head and back and wore black braces on his arms and neck. He had three webbed claws on each hand and two webbed toes on each foot. He wore a black loincloth that reached down past his ankles and trailed on the floor. On his waist was a green belt with the Omnitrix symbol on it.

Inner Moka coughed up a little water before glaring at the alien. "You idiot! It took you long enough!"

"It's better to be late than never." Ripjaws replied in a deep, gasping voice. He carried her over to the fence around the pool before putting her down gently. He then extended his large mouth and tore a hole in the metal fence by biting it off. The fish like alien threw it aside before turning to Inner Moka. "Get as many people out as you can. I'm gonna stop those fish from eating anyone else."

Inner Moka snarled at Ripjaws as she spat out. "Hawke, I am a proud vampire! I have already told you I don't orders from anyone, least of all from an idiotic moron who doesn't consider the feelings of others."

"I didn't know about your weakness to water!" Ripjaws defended, knowing she was talking about herself and the Outer Moka.

"That's no excuse." Inner Moka retorted. "You should have considered the other Moka's feelings! Instead, all you thought about was yourself, thinking you and her were on equal grounds! You never even considered she could be hurt in this!"

"I did consider it!" Ripjaws shouted back, surprising Inner Moka. "I saw how afraid she was and constantly offered her the chance to leave, knowing she was terrified of something here!" Once he had finished he suddenly began to feel strange. "W-we can argue about this la-*cough*-later! Just ge...*cough*...get every...*cough*...one... *COUGH*, *COUGH*!" Suddenly Ripjaws began to stumble before he fell to the ground on all fours, gasping deeply to the point where he was wheezing.

Inner Moka looked startled at the sight. "What's going on? Why are you...?"

"It's...Ripjaws's...weakness." Ripjaws managed to wheeze out as the gills on his neck began to shrink with each of his dying breaths. "I can't...stay on land...for very long. If I'm on land for more than a few minutes...then I'll dry out."

Inner Moka was shocked by the revelation. She had always believed Christian's alien forms to be invincible, it had never occurred to her that they had weaknesses. She attempted to lift Ripjaws so she could get him back into the pool, but the water had sapped too much of her strength and she found the alien too heavy to lift. "Hawke! Hang on!" She told the wheezing alien before turning towards her other self's fighting friends. "Kurumu!" She exclaimed, earning the fighting succubus's attention. "It's Hawke! He needs your help!" Inner Moka shouted, disgusted with herself that she was asking for help.

Upon hearing the boy she loved needed her help, Kurumu immediately shot out of the pool, leaving Zack and Yukari to handle the mermaids. Tamao, seeing Kurumu fly over to the downed Inner Moka and Ripjaws, smirked as she thought of a way to end the Gaijin.

Kurumu reached Inner Moka in an instant, she landed on the ground and knelt down next to the dying Ripjaws. "What's happening to him?!" She demanded, suddenly very worried.

"He needs to get into the water." Inner Moka told the Succubus. "If he doesn't soon then he'll die."

Kurumu gasped before gaining a more determined expression. Together, she and Inner Moka lifted up Ripjaws and began to carry him towards the water. Unfortunately, just before they reached it, a lasso of seaweed came out of nowhere and wrapped itself around Ripsaws' leg. The two girls turned to see Tamao and three other mermaids holding on to the end of the line. With all their strength, the four mermaids swung the vine like material and tore Ripjaws from the girls grasp and swung him over to the other side of the pool, far from any help.

Tamao cackled, "So out of all the forms he could transform in to, Christian chose to pick a fish out of water. Not too bright of a choice was it?"

"Christian!" Kurumu shouted desperately before trying to fly over to him, only to be stopped by more mermaids.

Inner Moka weakly tried to make her way over to her comrade but Tamao noticed and swam over to the side of the pool. "Oh no, you don't! You may be the strongest monster here, but you're just a beached minnow in our territory!"

With that statement, Tamao and some of the other mermaids that were left shot up in a dolphin like stance and began to spray Inner Moka with water from the pool, weakening her further. However the proud vampire kept moving despite the onslaught of water coming at her, desperate to save Christian.

As they kicked, the other mermaids taunted her. "Drink it! Drink it! Drink it! Drink it! Drink it!" They recited menacingly.

Inner Moka's steps became slower as the water continued to spray her. Soon the pressure became too much for her and she dropped to one knee, the water taking its toll on her strength. She looked over to the collapsed body of Ripjaws, whose breathing appeared to becoming more staggered. A small tear ran down her face, undetectable because of the water. '_Christian...'_ she thought sadly.

Suddenly, the water onslaught stopped. Inner Moka's eyes widened to see several of the mermaids falling over with wash tubs on their heads.

"Take that you hussies!" Yukari cried out, appearing next to Inner Moka.

"Don't forget about me!" Zack cried, appearing out of nowhere, using the mermaids heads as stepping stones causing them to fall over and stop there attack.

"We won't let you harm Christian or Moka!" Kurumu shouted, flying through the mermaids and landing in front of Yukari and Zack. All three teens eyed the mermaids with smirking expressions.

Zack cocked his head round to look at Inner Moka. "We'll handle these guys, you save Bro." He told her.

Inner Moka struggled to her feet before glaring at the boy. "I don't take orders." She told him in a cold tone.

"Come on, we know the water has weakened you to the point where you can barely stand. Let us handle this. As Bro would say, we're friends; we stick out for one another." Zack stated before jumping at one of the mermaids and kneeing her to the face sending her falling back into the water.

Inner Moka then looked towards Kurumu and Yukari who both gave her a nod before jumping back into the fray. The vampire girl didn't know what to say; suddenly she was the one who was the dead weight. It felt strange to her. However at that point she had bigger problems to worry about. With new found determination, she made her way over to Ripjaws, who was now only barely conscious. The alien form was lying on its back, its chest was constantly moving up and down with no luck as he tried desperately to respire. Inner Moka automatically moved to pick up the alien so she could throw him into the pool, but she found she had no strength to do so, the water had sapped all of it. Beginning to panic, Inner Moka tried desperately to get Ripjaws to move on his own or to at least help her move him, but it was no use. He was too dehydrated.

"Hawke, stay with me!" Inner Moka pleaded, looking the alien in the eyes. "You cannot die here! Tell me! Tell me how I can help you!" She asked, fear in her eyes

Ripjaws looked at Moka with kind eyes, despite the fact he was suffocating. Slowly he opened his mouth and one word escaped the alien's scaly lips. "...Sym...bol..." He gasped.

Inner Moka looked at him confused as to what he meant before Ripjaws spoke again. "...The...symbol..." With that the alien fell unconscious from the strain of speaking.

Inner Moka truly began to panic, she had no strength and Christian had just fallen unconscious and was now extremely close to deaths door. All he had told her was something about a symbol. But she had no idea what he meant. She scanned Ripjaws's limp body hoping for a clue before she laid her eyes on the Omnitrix badge on his belt. "Could it be...?" Inner Moka said to herself as she moved to press it. "Please, let this save you." She said softly to herself as she smacked her hand against symbol with all the strength she had, as if the extra force would help. Upon contact with the symbol, Ripjaws's eyes shot open and gained a determined look. Suddenly, the symbol exploded with green light, signifying the change. Inner Moka, as well as the people fighting in the pool, were blinded by the light that engulfed the pool area.

Zack, Kurumu and Yukari all cheered triumphantly. The green light could only mean that Christian was going to be okay. Inner Moka let out a sigh of relief and smiled as she felt a warm feeling spread over her. It felt strangely comfortable as she found herself bathed in the light. As quickly as it appeared, the light disappeared. Inner Moka, Zack, Kurumu and Yukari all expected to see Christian standing there in either human form or another of his monster forms, however as the light faded, they saw…nothing. There was no sign of Christian anywhere.

Kurumu was the first out of everyone to recover. "Where is he?!" She shouted. "Moka, where's Christian!?"She shouted to the vampire girl.

Inner Moka honestly had no idea what had happened. She looked around, utterly confused, before she heard a quiet, cold and raspy voice whisper to her, "Get the others out of the pool."

Not knowing where the voice came from, Inner Moka decided, against her better judgement and all her principles, to follow the voice's instructions. "Zack, Kurumu, Yukari!" She snapped, "Get out of the pool now!" she ordered.

"Why?" Kurumu questioned.

"Just do it!" Inner Moka shouted back, getting annoyed.

"Fine!" Kurumu replied with a huff, spreading her wings and flying over to her friends and grabbing them by the wrists and hoisting them out of the water and over to the side.

"Where do you think you're going!?" Tamao shouted mockingly. "The party is only just getting start- brrr…when did it get soooooo coooold." As Tamao was speaking, she and the rest of the mermaids suddenly felt extremely cold, the waters temperature dropping dramatically by the second.

"What's wrong? Don't like the cold?" A disembodied voice said, causing everyone to look around in surprise.

"Who said that?!" Tamao shouted out to the air.

"Me…" The voice replied. Suddenly a shape emerged from the pool, rising slowly from out of the water. At first it was barely visible, all the people around the pool could only make out the creature's shape.

after a few seconds, it became more visible. It appeared to be wearing a blue, hooded cloak. Pointing out from beneath the robe were two toed, black feet with an extra toe like extension at the back of the ankle. Overall it looked like some kind of phantom.

"What is that?" Yukari asked.

"You mean you don't know?" Zack asked her in a teasing tone. "That's a hero."

The creatures cloak suddenly unfurled revealing it to be four wings. The creature's full body was now shown. It had a blue, skeletal like body with black and white spots on its arms and legs that resembled ice chunks, a light blue torso and large green eyes. It had three pointed fingers and a thumb on each hand. However the most noticeable feature was the symbol on its chest. A green hourglass.

"It's Chris!" Yukari shouted out happily.

"Way to go Bro!" Zack cried, fist pumping the air.

"Yahoohoo!" Kurumu exclaimed joyously. "End this Christian!"

Even Inner Moka, who was normally so stoic, fell to her knees in relief. One last tear falling from her eye.

"So you managed to survive!" Tamao mocked. "Who do you think you are?"

The creature looked at Tamao with its green eyes which seemed scare Tamao for some reason.

"I'm Big Chill!" The creature announced.

Tamao gawked at the alien. "Big Chill?" she asked. "What a lame name. What can he do?"

Big Chill flexed his wrist and sent Tamao a look that unsettled her. "Nothing much." He answered. "Just…this!" He exclaimed right before inhaling as much air as his lungs could handle. Once he was done, he pointed his head towards the water and exhaled a frosty blast of air from his mouth, whihc instantly began to freeze the water upon contact. The layer of ice spread across the pool, trapping any of the mermaids in place as they tried to get out of the pool.

The mermaids shivered uncontrollably from their frosty prison, the top half of their bodies encased in ice. Tamao was the only one who had managed to get away from the attack. Before ice layer had reached her, she had swum underwater and launched herself in to the air as the ice passed her by. She was now sitting on top of the ice, looking around at her fellow, trapped mermaids.

"No...this can't be happening..." Tamao murmured in denial, her eyes wide in shock. "This was our domain...how could we be beaten so easily?"

"You were too cocky." The cold voice of Big Chill explained as he flew down to her. Upon landing, his wings folded back in to the robe like garment he was originally seen in. "Now who's a fish out of water?" He mocked, his weird mouth shifting into something that resembled a smirk.

Tamao looked at Big Chill with burning rage. "You...you did this..." She said angrily, her mouth turning back into her sharp teeth. "You'll pay!" She shouted as she lunged at the blue alien. Inner Moka, Kurumu, Zack and Yukari were quite surprised that the mermaid still had some fight in her but were more worried when Big Chill let her bite his arm.

"Chris!" Kurumu shouted in horror.

"She's gonna drain him dry!" Yukari exclaimed in fear.

However, Zack started chuckling.

"What's so funny?!" Kurumu shouted at him, disgusted that he would laugh at his friends suffering.

"Bro's fine." He told them.

"What?" Both Yukari and Kurumu said in unison.

"It's true." Inner Moka confirmed "Look."

Both girls turned back towards their friend to see that he was indeed okay.

Tamao may have tried to bite his arm, but the teeth had never touched Big Chill. Instead, they had passed straight through him. The alien had become intangible just before Tamao had tried to bite him, leaving him unscathed and the mermaid holding her mouth in pain.

"I it mi Tonge!" Tamao shouted in pain, holding her mouth. She shifted back into her human form so she could stand on the ice.

"Here, let me help you with that." Big Chill said, blowing a small amount of his icy breath at the mermaid. Tamao moved her hands away from her mouth as if to block the attack, but that only left it exposed. So when the blast hit Tamao it encased her mouth in ice, preventing her from talking.

Tamao tried to claw at the makeshift gag but it seemed to be stuck there until it melted. For the time being she would only be able to communicate from illegible muffles.

"There, that's a massive improvement." Big Chill remarked before rising into the air and floating over to his friends. He was greeted with cheers from Yukari and Zack and a bear hug from Kurumu. Zack had made a joke about cool sushi but it wasn't that funny. Before Big Chill turned back to human form, he looked over to Inner Moka, who appeared to have regained some of her strength and was glaring angrily at the mermaid on the new ice rink. "That ice will hold." Big Chill told her, knowing exactly what she wanted to do.

The vampire gave a small nod of gratitude before she walked on to the ice and towards the now quivering Tamao. Inner Moka allowed her fearsome aura to wash over Tamao's body like a wave of dread. Despite wanting to, Tamao found herself unable move, frozen from fear. As Inner Moka approached, she spoke calmly, a small smirk on her face, adding to the fear Tamao felt.

"So I'm a beached minnow, am I?" She said in a mocking tone. "This is your territory, is it?" Tamao shook her head and waved her arms trying to take back what she had said despite the fact she couldn't talk. "Well, look around you." Inner Moka continued, using her arms to gesture to the now icy pool with mercicles sticking out. "This isn't your territory anymore." She was now standing directly in front of Tamao, towering over her. "And now it's time for you to learn your place." She said before raising her leg and, with what strength she had left, kicked the panicking mermaid in the gut, sending her flying over the pool fence into one of the nearby trees, knocking her out.

Satisfied, Inner Moka walked back to the others. As soon as she reached them, the Omnitrix symbol underneath Big Chill's robe began beeping, signifying his time was up. There was a bright flash of green and Big Chill disappeared, being replaced with Christian.

However as soon as he turned back, Christian put his hands together and bowed before Inner Moka, surprising everyone. "I'm sorry." He said, talking quickly. "I should have considered both your and the other Moka's feelings before bringing you here. Instead I..."

Sensing the anger at his own actions, Inner Moka raised her right hand. Kurumu, Yukari and even Zack thought that Inner Moka was going to slap Christian there and then, but to their surprise, she simply put it on his shoulder. Christian looked up and instead of seeing the anger and annoyance he had been expecting, he saw that the vampire girl had an apologetic expression. "It was...not entirely your fault..." She admitted shakily, not used to admitting her own mistakes. "You did try to understand why the other me was so nervous. That is enough." Christian had not expected this. At this point he honestly thought he would be keeping Tamao company in the tree. "I didn't realise your various forms had their own weaknesses. You almost died just to get me away from the pool. I'm...sorry...you had to do that." Christian noted that for an apology, it was extremely rusty.

Cautiously, the Omnitrix rose until he was once again standing tall. "Soooo, we're good?" He asked hopefully.

A playful smirk spread on Inner Moka's face as she reached out and pulled Christian closer to her face, causing a blush from the teen and the other two girls to get jealous. "Not yet..." Inner Moka said as she revealed her fangs and before anyone could complain, sank her teeth into his neck.

CHUUU!

Christian's eyes went wide from the new sensation. He was used to the Outer Moka sucking his blood; he had never had to deal with Inner Moka being this close to him. Plus the way Inner Moka sucked his blood felt different to the Outer Moka. He didn't know why but it felt a lot more...forceful.

Kurumu and Yukari both looked at the scene in annoyance, although the former was more annoyed than the latter. Zack just stood at the side lines with his hands in his trunk pockets and smiled, happy his friend was getting closer with Moka.

Inner Moka finally pulled away from Christian's neck with a look of satisfaction. "Now we are good." She said. The vampire teen then raised her hand as if waiting for something. Christian quickly realised what it was. Reaching into his own trunk pocket, he pulled out the Rosario. He had managed to slip it there while he was transforming so that it would be safe during the fight. Inner Moka took it without a word and reattached it to her choker, reverting her back into the sweet, pink haired Outer Moka.

Christian caught her as she fell. He reckoned she would be too tired from the water to do anything but sleep for the moment. So he picked her up bridal style, much to the jealousy of the other two girls, and laid her down on a nearby bench. He told Kurumu and Yukari to get changed so they could leave. As the girls left, Christian and Zack remained so Moka wouldn't be alone if she woke up. While they waited, the boys had a quick chat about how they were going to explain the schools new ice rink and wondered what rumours were going to be spread about Christian because of it. After all, if anything went wrong that involved fighting these days; Christian would be blamed for it. However, the conversation eventually changed to Zack's fighting skills.

"So you know martial arts?" Christian asked.

"Yep!" Zack confirmed happily.

"That's sweet." Christian remarked. "I know a few forms myself." He told his friend.

"Cool!" Zack cried, getting excited. "Hey, do you want to spar sometime in our human forms?" He asked, stars in his eyes.

"Yeah, that'd be alright." Christian replied. "I haven't had a good sparring partner in a while." It was true, the rest had been angry monsters trying to kill him. It would be nice to fight without fear of being killed for once.

"Great. We should set it up sometime soon." Zack said, still excited.

"Sounds good." Christian replied. The two boy's fist bumped each other before they continued to talk about little things like homework and stuff like that.

Once Kurumu and Yukari came back from changing, the boys quickly got changed before the four took Moka back to her dorm. Zack left them halfway to get the mermaids in the ice help.

As he carried Moka, Christian let out a sigh. He knew the next day was going to be very long.

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The next day started off badly. The student body had heard about the fight from the previous day and blamed Christian not only for freezing the pool and the mermaids who had been stuck in the ice, but also for the boys who had their life source sucked out of them by the mermaids. They, of course, had ignored the truth when Christian and the others told them what happened and jumped straight to the conclusion that Christian had done it to show his superiority. Therefore, Christian was now hated more than ever by the school body.

Christian of course had grown used to the rubbish rumours and ignored them. He was just happy Moka was okay. She had come to school fully healed and as healthy as ever (Christian had given her an extra offering of blood in order to help with her recovery because he felt that it was his fault that she was that weak anyway.).

Another downside of the day was that now, no one would accept Christian into their clubs, fearing he would hurt them. And because Christian was wasn't allowed to join any clubs; Moka, Zack, Kurumu and Yukari refused to join any clubs either, despite their popular demand.

At lunch, the five sat at in the cafeteria depressed.

"So…what are we going to do now?" Zack asked.

"Dunno." Kurumu replied, her head on the table.

The others didn't offer Zack an answer and so the five settled for cast down expressions that pretty much showed how they were feeling.

"Why so glum?" A sudden, cheerful voice asked. The five turned to see Miss Nekonome smiling at them.

"We don't have a club to join." Christian told her sadly.

"Oh, that's no problem!" Miss Nekonome replied happily. "Why don't you all join the Newspaper Club? All our members graduated last year so it's pretty empty."

"That's not a bad idea." Christian remarked, perking up. "What do you say, Moka?"

"It sounds like a good idea to me." Moka replied.

"Hey, I'm joining too!" Kurumu explained, shooting out of her chair. "If Christian's joining, then so am I. I'm not letting you or Inner Moka snatch him away."

"Me too! Me too!" Yukari added in a cheerful voice.

"Sounds like fun." Zack remarked. "I'll join too."

"Alright! Talk about a lucky break. Looks like the Newspaper Clubs going to have new blood after all!" Miss Nekonome cheered happily.

At the 'blood' remark, Moka's eyes shone deviously as she lunged at Christian with her fangs exposed.

CHUUU!

"Ahhhh! Moka! I already gave you a pint today! Christian exclaimed as Kurumu and Yukari tried to pull her of off him.

**And there you go. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. In case anyone noticed, the Big Chill used was from Alien Force and Ultimate Alien. He just looks cooler. **

**If you have any questions, either PM me or leave a comment in the reviews. See you soon. Bye!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! I want to thank everyone who wished me a happy birthday, it was very nice of you. This chapter is the longest yet. We get to see some of Zack's fighting moves, also this chapter is going to be the first chapter where I diverge the events in the Manga and Anime massively, but it will start out pretty much the same. There are a lot of alien transformations in this chapter, some are going to be used more than once.**

**I also want to remind everyone that in these events, Ben's secret hasn't been discovered and no one knows about the Omnitrix and that the incursion invasion hasn't happened yet.**

**By the way, I'm setting up a poll on my profile to decide the monster race for a set of fan girls for later in the story. The choices are the Harpy Lady Sisters from Yu-gi-oh, or three cat girls whose design will be based on something or other, most likely Cat Planet Cuties.**

**The winner of the bounty hunter poll will be announced at the bottom of the chapter.**

**I hope you enjoy. This chapter is a little more grown up than the rest.**

"**..." Speech**

'**...' Quote**

'**H**_**i' Thought**_

"**Learn your place!" **Inner Moka through Rosario

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC**

**Alien Watch in a Monster School**

**Ferocious Cats and Peeping Dogs**

**Seven hours after the events of the previous chapter.**

Night had long since fallen over the Yokai dorms, a beautiful full moon shone in to sky that the Great Barrier made appear blood red. Most students were either getting ready for bed, doing homework or cursing the American Gaijin for being in their lives.

In the case of one of the female students, she had just returned home from her club activities. She had eaten with her friends so she didn't need dinner, all she wanted to do was get washed in the safety of her own room.

However, as she turned away from her window, she failed to notice a shadowed figure peering in from its corner. The girl continued to undress, taking off her jacket and skirt before moving to unbutton her shirt. She managed the top two buttons before the shadow moved into the light, projecting his silhouette on to the girl's back wall. Seeing it, the girl screamed and turned to the window. But, by the time she had turned around, the peeper had already gone.

A wolf like howl filled the area, foreshadowing the grim events to follow.

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Christian left the dorms the next morning in a cheerful mood. He and his friends had their first official meeting of the Newspaper Club today. After they had joined Miss Nekonome's club, the teacher had told them to meet at lunch for an official welcome.

"Are you excited about today?" A sweet voice said from beside him. Christian was walking to school with Moka. The vampire girl happy to be in the company of her best friend. Considering her tone, she seemed more excited than him.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to some peace and quiet for a while." Christian replied. "I mean, ever since I arrived here it seems I've been getting into more and more fights and I'm getting further from the original reason I came here." The last part was said with a sigh.

Moka's expression automatically sobered and she looked at the ground sadly. "I'm sorry…"

"No, no! It's not your fault!" Christian explained in a small panic. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't look out for friends when they were in trouble?"

"Really?"

"Of course, Moka." Christian replied without thinking. "You're my best friend, I would do anything if it kept you safe."

"Chris…" Moka sighed.

Christian replayed his words in his head and his face turned a shade that matched Moka's. It didn't help that the vampire girl was now looking him lovingly in the eyes.

Subconsciously, the two teens leaned their faces closer to one another, inhaling deeply. "Chris…you smell so good…" Moka said in a hypnotic fashion.

"Thanks…" Christian replied, not paying attention. When the words caught up with him, the teens eyes widened in horror. "Moka, Wait!" He cried to no avail.

"I'm sorry, I just can't help myself around you." She replied, pushing forward and taking a light nip at his neck.

CHUU!

Christian stood wincing as Moka took her fill. He was becoming honestly scared at how little this hurt him now. In fact it was starting to feel good.

Moka pulled back with a wide smile on her face. She cupped her cheeks blushing crimson. "As always, your blood is extremely yummy! I think I'm hooked on it!"

However this went over Christian's head as he stood there with a sweat drop. _'I could have told you that two weeks ago…' _He thought as he held his neck. _'If I'm not careful around Moka when she gets like that, she is probably going to kill me.'_

"Chris!" A peppy voice cried from behind him.

Christian turned towards it only to be met with something soft as someone pounced on him. Christian quickly figured out it was Kurumu giving him her signature bear hug. "Today's the day we join the Newspaper Club! I'm so happy I get to spend time with you!" She exclaimed as she smothered Christian with her chest.

'_I take it back. This is what is going to kill me.' _Christian thought as he slowly began to run out of oxygen.

"Kurumu, stop!" A young, high pitched voice shouted, announcing the arrival of Yukari. "I joined the club too, so give me a chance with Christian!" the witch cried as she and Moka moved to pull Christian away from the succubus.

However Kurumu pulled the Omnitrix teen away before they could touch him. "Too slow!" She told the two. Kurumu smirked as she glared at Moka. _'I'm not giving him to you, Moka. Christian is my destined one, and our bond can only grow through the club together.'_ The succubus shot daggers at Moka, who returned the look with full force. _'I'm not about to share him with you, Moka. It's only a matter of time before he falls in love with me and you'll just be an afterthought!' _As the girls glared at each other, sparks seemed to collide between them. It was during this confusion that Yukari snatched Christian out of Kurumu's grip. The girls stopped their staring contest as they caught sight of a smiling Yukari, holding Christian as he gasped for oxygen.

"Yukari…" The two girls said slowly and menacing. They approached the twelve year old girl, causing her to sweat bullets. All of a sudden the two girls lunged at the smaller one and got into a mini cat fight, leaving the recovering Christian sprawled on the ground.

"Looks like you're having fun." A voice came from above. Christian looked up to see his only male friend looking back. "Morning, Zack." He said groggily. Zack extended his hand, which Christian took gladly.

Once on his feet, Christian dusted himself down before looking towards the fighting girls. He turned back to Zack. "We had best go on ahead," he said, beginning to walk away.

"Shouldn't we wait for them?"

"Nah…that may take a while. They'll catch up, don't worry."

Zack cast another glance at the girls before shrugging and following his friend. It was a few minutes before the girls noticed Christian's disappearance. They shared a quick look, before sprinting after their friends.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The day passed by rather slowly; Christian, Moka and Kurumu sat in classes listening half-heartedly to Miss Nekonome babble about cats in literature. Once the bell for lunch rang, the three eagerly followed Miss Nekonome, collecting Yukari and Zack respectively from their classrooms on the way, and headed to the Newspaper Club room.

Once they were gathered, Miss Nekonome decided to initiate the five into the Club.

"Welcome toooo… The Newspaper Club!" The cat woman announced happily, blasting a party popper.

However, the mini celebration was lost on the teens as they looked around at the otherwise empty classroom.

"Uh…Miss Nekonome?" Christian started.

"Are we the only members?" Zack finished.

"Of course not, silly!" Miss Nekonome replied as the door to the classroom slid open, as if on cue.

"Sorry I'm late." A charming voice said from the doorway.

"There he is now." Miss Nekonome told the five.

The teen who had just entered was a young man who looked to be at least a year older than them. He had a light build with a muscular physique. He was wearing a school uniform with an open shirt and no tie. Around his neck he wore a silver wolf head choker. His untamed black hair was held back by a red headband. In his arms were two bouquets of roses; one red, one white.

"Oh man. The first day and I'm already late." The boy said with a chuckle as he made his way to the head of the classroom so that he was in front of the five younger students. "Good morning all! My name's Ginei Morioka, but you can call me Gin for short. Let's all try to get along shall we?"

Gin flashed the five a smile before he handed the bundle of red roses to Moka and the white ones to Kurumu. "I've gotta say this club really lucked out to have girls as pretty as you two joining us." He said with a charming smile.

Moka flushed slightly, not used to flattering comments. Kurumu just took it in stride. She was used to flattering comments.

Gin then looked at Yukari, who was in between the other two girls. "And you must be Yukari Sendo." Gin said, still smiling as he picked one rose from Kurumu's bouquet and gave it to the girl. "I guess it's true what they say: big things do come in small packages. Welcome aboard."

Christian and Zack both rolled their eyes at Gin's antics. From the first look, they both knew that Gin was a ladies man.

"Great…and here I was hoping for a normal club." Christian whispered to Zack so no one could hear him but the boy in question.

"Yeah, and now we need to put up with this flirting." Zack replied, glaring at Gin with great disdain.

It was then that Gin finally seemed to notice the two boys. He turned towards them, leaving the giggling Yukari behind. "And you must be Zackery Orion." He said, raising his hand for a handshake. "It's good to meet the guy who can take down five monsters without having to transform."

'_What!'_ Christian thought with wide eyes, he hadn't heard about that. When had Zack fought five monsters?

Zack slowly took Gin's hand and shook it reluctantly. "It's…a pleasure…to meet you too…" He managed to say, although it looked like it pained him to do so.

Gin nodded and released Zack's hand before moving it to Christian. "And you must be the infamous Christian Hawke, the 'murderous' American super Doppelganger who has to wear a limiter in order to keep his forms from overloading and killing him." Christian and Zack both frowned at the little unnecessary word Gin had added in to his sentence, however Christian accepted the handshake regardless.

"It's good to meet you." Christian replied, although dryly.

"You know, people have been talking about you a lot recently…And I'm sure not everything they say is true if you catch my drift. Perhaps you would let me do an article on you so that everyone can learn the real story?" Gin suggested with a smirk.

"Nice offer, but I think I'll pass." Christian replied. "I believe actions show greater than words."

"Well your actions are currently putting you in a bad light, aren't they?" Gin countered. However before Christian could reply, Gin had already started talking again, "Any way, I won't be giving up on that interview."

"Well, it looks like things are under control here." Miss Nekonome interjected with a smile, completely ignoring the build-up of tension between the three boys. "I have to attend a faculty meeting, so I'll leave things to Gin in the meantime. See you later!" She called as she left the room, leaving no room for interjection.

Seeing the teacher's departure as his cue, Gin walked up and stood behind the desk at the front of the classroom. He placed both hands on it and leaned forward, observing his new club mates. "Okay guys, for all you newbies, the school newspaper is the source of all the information and news at Yokai Academy." Gin explained. "As such, we are constantly on the search for new news everywhere. Anything that can be reported to the students."

"Yeah!" The five younger students cheered, the boys a little less enthusiastically than the girls.

Seeing the new members' determination, Gin continued. "That being said, does anyone have a story idea for us to pursue."

The five teens thought hard about things they had heard around the academy before Kurumu remembered something a girl had said to her that morning. "Hey, what about the peeping tom?" She asked, causing Gin's face to tense slightly. Seeing how no one replied, Kurumu decided to continue. "Haven't you guys heard? There have been numerous reports of someone peeking in on the girl's dorm and changing rooms. They all happen at night and the only things the girls have been able to see is the silhouette of beast and nothing else. The guy is so fast, no one has been able to get a good look at him."

"What a creep!" Yukari cried, pumping her fist into the air and shaking it angrily.

"Yeah, a peeper is the worst." Moka agreed with a nod.

"Let's catch this guy." Christian piped in, hiding his anger on the topic.

"And teach him a well-deserved lesson!" Zack added, making no effort to hide his annoyance.

"It's good to see that you will all be committed to this topic." Gin said with a small smile. "In that case, our first assignment is to find informants who have seen this guy. After all, a journalist's strongest resource is the people: Lesson number one. We'll ask other student for their help in our investigation. While we're at it, we can also put up other posters advertising the club."

"Shouldn't we be more concerned with catching the peeper?" Zack asked suspiciously as the others nodded in agreement.

"We are. We won't be able to talk to or even find all the people who have any description of the guy." Gin then took out one of the advertisement posters for the club from one of the desk drawers and grabbed a pen. He then squiggled a few words on to it before showing it to the club. "So I've added this nice little addition to the poster.

The five had to squint, but sure enough, at the bottom of the poster in small black ink read: If you have any, or know anyone with, information about the peeping tom, contact the Newspaper Club in room 3-1.

"It would be nice if anyone could actually see it." Christian deadpanned .

"Ok then, I'll just make two more." Gin said taking out two more posters and scribbled on them as well. He then handed one to Moka, one to Kurumu and one to Zack and Christian. "Christian, Zack, can you two go and copy this poster using the copier in the main office please. Take those two boxes over there and fill them to the brim. We're going to be covering a lot of ground." He said, gesturing to a pile of small boxes I the corner.

"Ok." Christian complied.

"Fine." Zack said with a huff. He didn't trust Gin.

"As for you girls, you'll come with me and we'll ask around, as well as put those posters up." Gin told the three girls.

"OK!" The girls cheered.

"Alright guys, let's move!"

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Christian and Zack walked down the corridor to meet up with the others. In their arms were the boxes of posters they had just printed off. As they walked, the two boys talked about their new 'friend'.

"So what do you think of Gin?" Zack asked Christian curiously.

"Well…he seems to be committed to the club and his job as a reporter…" Christian began, although there was a hitch in his voice.

"But?"

"There's something off about him. He doesn't feel like someone I can trust."

"I know what you mean." Zack replied. "He's hiding something, I just wonder what it is."

"Agreed."

The boys continued walking for a few more minutes before they found the others. However as they approached, something seemed off. Moka and Kurumu were both standing on ladders, stretching their bodies so that they could pin what appeared to be the posters from earlier on the wall. They looked like they were straining themselves in order to do it. Yukari was nowhere to be seen and Gin was standing at the side with his arms crossed and looking up at the two girls.

"What is Gin doing?" Christian asked Zack who shrugged. However no sooner had he said those words, Gin knelt down and angled his head upwards towards the girls, who had no idea what he was doing.

"He isn't…" Christian started, although considering Gin's currently beet red face it was quite clear what he was doing.

"He is." Zack replied, his teeth gritted in fury.

Both boys shared a nod before putting down the posters they were holding and silently walking over to the older boy. To say they were pissed was an understatement. Both boys were bloody furious. Christian hoisted the older student up by the back of his collar, practically throttling him before he allowed Zack to pin Gin up against the wall using his elbow to hold the sophomore in place.

"What the hell!?" Gin yelled, surprised by his current situation.

Moka and Kurumu turned around after hearing the shout to see what Christian and Zack were doing to Gin, the wrath of the gods on their faces. It was at this time that Yukari also reappeared, coming around the corner carrying a selection of snacks that she had been sent to get.

"Guys, stop it!" Moka shouted.

Christian turned to face his friends, his features softening slightly. "You would probably be doing this too if you just saw what he was doing." He told Moka.

"What did he do?" Yukari asked curiously.

"He can tell you." Zack replied menacingly.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Gin answered in an innocent voice.

"Ok then, let's try it this way." Christian replied angrily. "Answer these questions as fast as you can."

"Fine." Gin huffed.

"What's your name?"

"Ginei Morioka."

"Age?"

"16."

"Class?"

"2-3."

"Favourite colour?"

"Red." Gin closed his eyes, feeling proud of himself for some reason.

"What were you doing just now?"

"Looking up their skirts." Gin answered quickly and confidently.

"What!" Moka and Kurumu shouted furiously.

Gin's expression quickly changed to that of realisation and shock. He had been tricked. Christian and Zack both smirked triumphantly while the girls looked at Gin with disturb and a lot of anger.

Zack finally released Gin allowing the older boy to raise his arms in defence as the angry girls approached him with a killing aura.

"Now, wait, wait, wait!" Gin cried, waving his arms to stop the girls advance. "How would those two know what I was doing unless they were trying to look up your skirts too?"

"What!?" The other five shouted. Moka and Kurumu turned to look at Christian and Zack with questioning looks.

"Girls, he's lying." Christian protested. "You know us, do you really believe that we would do something like that?" He pleaded.

Moka and Kurumu looked at Christian and Zack then at the smiling Gin. They then shared a small glance before the two began walking towards Gin.

The sophomore smirked as Moka and Kurumu walked towards him. What he understand, was why the girls were still looking at him angrily.

SMACK

WALLOP

Christian's, Zack's and Yukari's eyes widened as Moka slapped him around the face and Kurumu kneed him where the sun doesn't shine.

"Ohh!" Gin winced as his knees buckled and he fell to the floor in pain.

"Right it the ringer." Zack quipped, smirking at Gin's situation.

"I can't believe you would honestly expect us to believe that Christian would try to peep on us like that!" Kurumu scolded Gin angrily as she walked back over to her friends. "And Zack has proven that he is a gentleman when it comes to girls. They would never peek."

"Yeah!" Yukari added, moving over to her friends. "Christian and Zack aren't those kind of people!"

Christian smiled at his friends support, however when he looked over to Moka, he found that she had her eyes cast in shadows by her hair. "Moka…" He called, hoping for his friend to answer him. However, the pink haired vampire said nothing. She simply walked over to Christian, her face glued to the ground. "Moka...?" Christian said again, beginning to get worried. "Are you al-"

SLAP

Everyone's eyes widened as Moka slapped Christian hard around the face. Once he recovered, Christian joined his friends in the looks of shock they were giving Moka as she turned away from them.

"Christian…" Moka began. "I hate perverts!" She cried before ran off.

"Moka!" Christian shouted, holding his cheek as he ran after her. "Wait!"

After Christian ran off, the other two girls ran after him, leaving Zack and Gin alone in the corridor.

"Aren't you going to follow the others?" Gin asked, managing to get up after Kurumu's attack.

"I will." Zack replied, glaring at Gin. "I just have one thing I need to do first." Gin cocked his brow questioningly before Zack quickly raised his leg and delivered another swift but powerful kick to the sophomore's privates.

"Not…again…" Gin groaned as he fell back in agony.

"That's for trying to make me look like you." Zack said as he turned around and raced after his friends.

As he left, Gin managed to sit up and glared at the retreating figures of Christian and Zack. _'Just you guys wait.' _He thought to himself. _'I'm going to take Moka from you Hawke. And after that, I'm going to make you pay for that move Orion.'_

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Moka had managed to escape her friends by diving in to one of the campus' girl's bathrooms. She was alone and all she did was stare at herself in the mirror, a look of flustered frustration written upon it. She couldn't believe it. She looked at the mirror and silently fumed. _'Gin was peeking? I feel so dirty.'_

She sighed before a thought crossed her mind, Gin had said Christian peeped as well. Slowly, and nervously, she grabbed the brim of her skirt and slowly lifted it upwards. _'What pair…did I wear today?" _she asked herself.

It was at that moment the Rosario began glowing and Inner Moka's voice made itself known. **"What are you doing?" **The disembodied voice asked with an irritated tone, surprising the Outer Moka and causing her to scream.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

"**Hey, listen."** Inner Moka interrupted. **"I want you to be careful around that Gin guy, okay? He's hiding something powerful. Stay close to Hawke. He'll be able to protect you if something happens."**

Outer Moka's thoughts were drawn to her best friend and the accusation Gin had put against him.

Sensing her unease from inside the Rosario, Inner Moka sighed. **"If you want to teach him a lesson to not peak, give him a bit of the silent treatment. Whether he peeked or not, it will teach him that actions bring consequences. Just remember to keep him close though. He is the one who can protect you if you get into trouble."**

Outer Moka still felt unsure, but agreed to the decision. Besides, she would only give Christian the silent treatment for a little while. After all, what harm could it do?

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That night, above the Yokai dorms, Gin stood on the roof of the boy's dorm, gazing at the beautiful full moon. It was as if the maiden of the moon herself was calling out to him. He smirked as he embraced the moons light before turning to look at the girl's dorm. All the lights were out, signifying that the girls were slumbering away in their dorms. However Gin was only interested in one window in particular. The room housed the sleeping pinkette vampire who was slumbering peacefully in her bed. Gin's lips curled into a wolfish grin which spread across his face. "The full moon may be as beautiful as it normally is." Gin started. "But it fails in comparison to your beauty, Moka Akashiya. My lovely Moka."

Suddenly, a wolfish howl pierced the beautifully night, before everything became deadly silent once again.

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The next morning, Christian walked behind Moka, not sure whether to talk to her or whether he should let her talk to him first. After recent events, this was a first for him in the morning. Normally it would start with Moka running up behind him and pulling him into a hugging embrace, before having her fill of blood. Then Kurumu would appear and near suffocate him in one of her 'love-hugs'. Next Yukari would show and wave her wand, causing a golden washtub to fall from wherever they came from and smash Kurumu over the head. Then she would either try to gain Christian's affections or try and set him up with Moka. Finally, the girls would get into a mini fight over him and Zack would show up and he and Christian would either watch in exasperation or go ahead. However, today none of his other friends could be seen.

Apparently, Kurumu and Yukari were on classroom duty and had to go in early to prepare their respective classes for lessons. Zack…was off being Zack somewhere, so Christian had no idea where he was. Therefore, Christian was trying, unsuccessfully, to talk to Moka.

However, as soon as she had seen him that morning, she had walked past him in a huff without saying a word.

"Moka, please talk to me." Christian pleaded, ignoring the sniggering looks the other students were giving him. "Please listen to me."

"No." The pinkette stated firmly. "I don't care, I don't want to see you anymore."

Those words made Christian stop in his tracks. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Moka, still facing away from Christian, stuck out her tongue playfully as she kept walking. '_I don't really mean it, of course, but a dose of the silent treatment should be a hard lesson learned.'_ She thought to herself proudly. That was, until she heard Christian's next words.

"If that's what you want."

This time, Moka stopped in her tracks and her eyes widened in fear as she heard a beeping sound from behind her. Suddenly a green light flashed behind her. Moka turned around to see Big Chill standing behind her with his wings unfurled. "You won't see me outside of classes." Big Chill said simply before he flapped his wings, taking off in to the air before turning invisible and disappearing from sight.

Realising her mistake, Moka quickly shouted out for her friend. "Christian! Chris!" she called, but received no answer. Christian had gone. "Come back…" Moka said weakly as tears began to form in her eyes.

Unbeknown to Moka, Gin stood unnoticed behind the shadow of a nearby tree, watching with a smirk as Moka began hurrying towards the school. "There making it too easy for me." He said to himself with a small laugh. "All they need is one more push."

Gin thought about things that could split the pair up and automatically, the perfect scheme came to mind.

"_I hate perverts!"_

Gin's smirk widened menacingly. As he began to formulate a plan. For now he needed to go and set up for his 'little game of deception'.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In class, Moka sat staring at the silent Christian's back. She had gotten into class early, hoping for a chance to talk and apologise to the teen and explain why she had said what she had. Unfortunately for her, Christian hadn't come to class until after the bell had rang which meant she was unable to talk to him until after class had finished. However, as soon as the bell rang, the teen had made a quick exit, blending in with the crowd of students who were also leaving class.

"Chris…" Moka said sadly.

"Did something happen between you and Christian?" A voice said from behind Moka.

The pinkette turned to see Kurumu looking at her with a questioning look. "I've made a big mistake." Moka said simply before she began to tell Kurumu the events of that morning.

"You actually said that to him!?" Kurumu cried in surprise.

Moka only nodded her head, looking down.

"Yahoohoo!" Kurumu exclaimed happily, shocking Moka with her friend's level of support. "If he's no longer after you then that leaves the perfect opening for me to swoop in and take him! When we get to the club, it's time to initiate Operation Lover Boy!" Kurumu declared, jumping up and down happily as she celebrated her 'victory'. Until Yukari appeared out of nowhere and spoiled it for her.

"You do realise that Christian may not come to the club if he is honouring Moka's wishes right?" She pointed out, stopping Kurumu's victory jumps (much to the disappointment of every guy in the room). "He said that Moka would only have to see him in class, he never said anything about the club." Moka and Kurumu both realised that Yukari was correct. Christian had only mentioned the class, would he go to the club if he and Moka were still fighting?

The three girls shared the same worried look before they turned and ran to the club room.

After a minute of running, the girls burst into the room, praying to find Christian sitting in the room waiting for them. Unfortunately there was no one there.

"I-I'm sure he's just running late." Kurumu said with an uncertain tone.

"Y-yeah." Yukari agreed, speaking with the same tone as Kurumu. "He'll be here in a minute."

Moka said nothing as she looked around the room. '_Where are you, Christian?' _she thought desperately.

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Zack walked through the hallway with a hand in his pocket and the other holding a can of root beer. He was on his way to the club to meet up with his friends when he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder.

On reflex, Zack turned around quickly, almost dropping his beverage in the process. However, the boy relaxed when he was met with the sight of Christian's serious face.

"Hey, Bro." Zack greeted. "What's up? Shouldn't we be getting to the club?"

"Zack…" Christian started a little sadly. "Can we talk?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back in the club room, Moka and the others were waiting for Christian, Zack or even Gin to enter the room. Gin had left a note for them saying he had found a witness and he was interviewing him so he would arrive slightly late. Zack just hadn't shown up, which the girls worked out meant he was with Christian. The two had become closer and if you couldn't find Christian with one of the girls, it meant he was with Zack. The girls sighed and slumped in their seats. Not only were they worried about their friends, not Gin, they were also bored.

"Where are they?" Yukari whined, laying the top half of her body over the desk in boredom.

"How are we supposed to know?" Kurumu countered.

"It was a rhetorical question."

"Huh?"

"It means it wasn't meant to be answered." The young witch explained, slightly exasperated as she sat back up straight in her chair.

"Then what was the point in asking it?"

"I don't know, I just said it."

"I thought you were a genius, what's the point in asking a question you don't want the answer to?" Kurumu asked, looking at the other girl with a smirk.

"Loads of people do it. It's natural thing to do."

"That's just stupid."

"It's not stupid. Is it Moka?" Yukari asked, turning to her friend, however she received no answer. The two bickering girls looked at Moka to see her staring at the door with a depressed look. "Moka..?" Yukari repeated, concerned about her friend.

Once again, Moka did not reply and just continued to stare at the door, willing it to open. So she was surprised when it did. "Christian!" Moka cried happily, shooting out of her seat, hoping it was indeed the boy of her affections.

"No Christian here." A voice that most defiantly was not Christian's replied, causing Moka's happy expression to once again drop. Gin walked into the room with a small smirk. "Good afternoon guys." He said, waving his hand in greeting. However, no one replied to Gin as they were still angry about the previous day. "Not a lot of love for me at the moment is there?" Gin asked with a small sweat drop as he sensed the atmosphere. He then looked around the club room before his expression turned into a puzzled one. "Where are the others?" He asked.

"We…don't know." Moka answered. "They didn't come to the club today."

"What!?" Gin exclaimed. He had been planning to set up Christian as the peeping tom by framing him. However his plan couldn't work if Christian wasn't there.

"You seem oddly displeased by that." Yukari stated, glaring at Gin with a questioning look.

Knowing he overreacted, Gin quickly tried to brush of the suspicion. "That's only because…uh, it's only the second club meeting and we already have people ditching, yeah that's it." The girls looked at him unconvinced but let it go knowing they weren't going to get an answer out of the sophomore. "Okay then, let's just continue with club activities." Gin said, sitting down at his desk, already trying to formulate a new plan in order frame Christian.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So what is it you wanted to talk about?" Zack asked after finishing off the last of his root beer.

After Christian had found Zack, the pair had gone up to the roof so they could talk privately. Zack was currently leaning against the metal railing of the fence that kept students falling of the roof while Christian was standing against the wall to the entrance of the roof. Christian stared at his friend with sad eyes, trying to formulate the words he needed to say.

"I want to catch the peeper." He said simply, causing Zack to look at his friend strangely.

"We all do. So why aren't we at the club helping our friends?"

"Me and Moka kind of had a fight. She told me she doesn't want to see me again. She'll be at the club, so I'm just respecting her wishes." Christian told him, albeit a little reluctantly.

"What!?" Zack cried. "Is that because of what Gin said?" He asked, annoyed at Moka for being stupid and believing Gin's lies.

"I don't know." Christian answered honestly. "Anyhow, it doesn't matter at the minute. What we need to do is catch the peeper."

"So, what do you suppose we do?"

"Tonight, we'll scope out the girls dorm." Christian explained. "If the peeper shows, we'll be there to catch him in the act."

"Great idea, Bro!" Zack said excitedly. "It'll be like we're secret agents!" He then got down on one knee and put his hands together to make them look like a gun.

"Yeah…like a secret agent…" Christian replied, taking full note of the fact that he was technically already a secret agent for the Plumbers.

"So when should we meet?" Zack asked, stopping his 'acting'.

"Tonight around nine, when it's dark. According to the rumours I've heard, all the sightings have been after that time. We'll watch the girls' dorm from the boys' roof. It's the perfect vantage point and will allow us to see everything below us." Christian explained. Tactics had been a part of his Plumber courses at the academy and he had excelled at them.

"That's brilliant!" Zack exclaimed. "Great plan there!"

Christian raised his hand to scratch the back of his head bashfully. "Thanks."

Zack nodded before he started speaking again. "And if we catch the guy, I say we teach him a lesson for peeping. It's wrong and should be punished." He said, pounding a fist into his open palm.

It was Christian's turn to nod. "And who knows, maybe catching this guy will help boost my reputation with the other students." He said hopefully. He may now be used to the hatred of his fellow classmates, but it would be nice to be without it.

"Hopefully."

"Okay then, I need to go and get some stuff ready. I'll see you later." Christian explained, extending his fist.

"Got it, I'll see you later." Zack replied as the two fist bumped.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Moka walked back to the dorms sadly. In the end, neither Christian nor Zack had come to the club, meaning she and the other two girls had to put up with Gin on their own, not that it was hard considering the girls glared at him whenever he came near them.

After lunch had ended, the girls headed back to their respective classes, where once again, Christian didn't enter until the last possible moment. The whole lesson, Christian remained quiet with his head down, only talking when the teacher asked him a question. When class ended, he had once again left the classroom quickly in order to avoid talking to anyone. That was why Moka was now walking on her own, silently sulking to herself. It was at this moment that the Rosario began to glow.

"**What are you doing on your own?!" **Inner Moka asked furiously. **"Didn't I tell you to stay close to Hawke?!"**

"The silent treatment was a terrible idea…" Outer Moka said weakly.

"**What?" **Inner Moka replied, confused.

"It was a terrible idea!" Outer Moka shouted. It was a good thing no one was around or they would think she was crazy.

"**What do you-" **Inner Moka began before she put the pieces together. **"What did you say to him?" **She demanded.

"I told him…I never wanted to see him again…" Outer Moka admitted, tears beginning to coat her eyes.

"**I told you to give him the silent treatment, not to push him away!" **Inner Moka reprimanded. **"You need to find Hawke and apologise to him, now!"**

"But Christian doesn't seem to want to talk to me. He leaves whenever he gets the chance." Outer Moka explained sadly.

"**Then you are going to have to give him a reason to talk to you." **Inner Moka told her other self harshly. **"It is imperative that you find a way to make him listen to you." **With those words, the Rosario ceased glowing and Moka was once again on her own. Moka stood still for a few minutes, collecting her thoughts. Finally she came to a decision, she would find Christian and apologise. If he wouldn't listen, then she would make him. Although she had no idea how she was going to do that.

With that thought in mind, she began to search for her friend.

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In his room, Christian was now dressed in his casual clothes. He was currently bending down and reaching under his bed in to grab a black and green duffle bag. Snatching it by the straps, Christian hoisted it up and unzipped its contents on to the bed. Inside was a collection of different alien technology and Plumber tech with a variety of functions. However, Christian was only interested in three items. A small PDA and two ear pieces. Stashing them in his jacket pocket, Christian looked at the Omnitrix. After a few quick swipes the Omnitrix displayed the time. It was only 7:50 meaning there was just over an hour before he had to meet with Zack.

Deciding to kill time, the Omnitrix sat down at his desk and opened up his laptop. He decided to make an entry on his progress. It was then that he remembered he still needed to introduce Moka to Magister Tennyson.

The thought of his Vampire friend brought a frown to his face. He was distraught that Moka didn't want to talk to him again. The very thought of it seemed to hurt his heart. Leaning back in his chair, Christian couldn't help but wonder why he felt this way. Moka was his friend, but he doubted he would feel the same pain he would at that moment if Kurumu or Yukari decided they never wanted to see him again.

'_Am I in love with Moka?'_ Christian subconsciously asked himself before there was a knock on his door. Rising from his seat, the teen walked over and opened it. His eyes widened to see the slightly teary eyed Moka standing in his doorway. She had been looking for him for hours and apparently had never once considered he was in his dorm room. "Moka…" Christian greeted with disbelieving eyes.

"Chris…" Moka replied, a little timidly.

"I'm sorry!" They said loudly, in unison. The two looked at each other for a moment before they shared a small smile.

"You go first." Moka said politely.

"No, you go first." Christian replied. "I insist."

Moka looked at Christian with a small smile before she nodded and bowed. "I'm sorry." She said again. "I should never have told you I didn't want to see you again. I was just trying to show you what would happen if you did peek. I never meant to hurt your feelings in the way that I-" Moka found herself interrupted by a pair of arms pulling her into a hug.

"I'm the one who should be asking for you forgiveness, Moka." Christian told the pinkette, holding her tightly. "I shouldn't have reacted in the way I did. I'm sorry to have worried you. I promise you, I won't do it again." Christian promised as he released Moka, allowing her to see the honesty in his eyes. "I promise." He repeated.

Moka stared at Christian with loving eyes and Christian found himself lost in hers. The two subconsciously began leaning in towards one another, closing their eyes as they became lost in their own little world. However, it was at this point the chat request on Christian's laptop began to beep.

The pair of teen's eyes automatically opened at the sound and upon realising how close they were to one another, quickly retreated from one of another.

"Uh, what's that?" Moka asked, very flushed.

"That's my laptop." Christian answered, just a red. However he then realised the advantage of Moka being here and Max calling. "Hang on, Moka." He said, gesturing for Moka to enter his room. "There's someone I need to introduce you to."

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Zack sat on the roof of the boy's dorm, lying on his back and looking up at the beautiful night stars and the wondrous full moon. He was wearing his casual clothes which consisted of long hooded, black jacket, an undershirt red T-shirt. On his hands were a pair of black leather gloves. He wore blue pocket pants and black sneakers with sliver and blue lines. Slowly, he raised his left wrist to look at his watch. It was ten past nine, Christian was late.

"Come on, Bro…" Zack sighed. "Where are you?"

The boy's question was answered by the sound of the door to the roof opening. Zack got up to see Christian standing there, looking remarkably happier than he had earlier. "Sorry I'm late." Christian said, nervously waving. "I ran into Moka."

"Oh?" Zack responded. "What happened?"

"We've sorted things out and were cool now." Christian explained.

"Where's she now?" Zack asked, wondering why Christian hadn't brought the girl along.

"A…friend of mine called…Moka's currently talking to him because he has wanted to be introduced to her for a while." Christian explained, leaving out the part his 'friend' was his commanding officer and he was currently briefing Moka on the details of his mission and why it was so important the fact he was human remained a secret.

"Why did they want to talk to Moka?" Zack pried, slightly suspicious.

"He just wanted to get to know my first friend here." Christian lied skilfully. "But enough about that." He continued, trying to change the subject. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the two ear pieces and the PDA. "Take these." He said simply, handing Zack the ear pieces and the PDA before attaching his own ear piece to his ear. "We can use these to communicate." Christian explained. He then pointed to a button on the ear piece. "Press this to turn on the ear piece."

"Okay." Zack nodded, before holding up the PDA. "And this?"

"That PDA is set up to detect any sound vibration within a miles radius. I've set it to tell you when there is a high pitch sound wave and the area where it originated." Christian replied, amazing Zack in the progress.

"Where did you get all this tech, Bro?" Zack asked, absolutely bewildered.

"Gift from a friend." Christian replied cryptically. "That's all I can say, sorry." He added before Zack could ask any more questions that would put him in an even more awkward situation than he already was.

"Ok then…" Zack replied, a little disappointed he wasn't trusted enough to be told the full story about the tech he was holding. "So then, what's the plan?"

"For now, we are going to wait here and stay out of sight." Christian explained. "Every twenty minutes, I'm gonna use Big Chill to do an invisible sweep. If I see anything that seems suspicious, I'll contact you so you can get to my position as quickly as possible. But if the PDA goes off while I'm gone, tell me and we'll both head to that area to catch the peeper."

"And if this thing picks up on a girl's scream while were both here?" Zack asked.

"Then I 'XLR8' us over there."

"XLR8?"

"It's one of the al…monsters I can turn into." Christian corrected quickly. "He's a bit of a speed freak."

Zack nodded in understanding, it was a good plan in his opinion. Therefore, the two boys sat down on the edge of the building and waited. Both boys had the feeling that they were going to be there for a while.

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"And that is why it is imperative that Christian's true identity never be revealed." Max Tennyson told the pink haired vampire girl. The sixty six year old man had just finished explaining to Moka the importance of Christian's mission. To say the vampire girl was impressed by magnitude of what she had been told was an understatement. She had known from what Christian had told her, his mission was important, but this took it to a whole new level.

Christian had to try and change all monsters social attitudes towards humans on his own. It was even harder for him now, especially since most of the student body hated him. Moka couldn't help feel sorry for her friend. Christian had such a great burden on his shoulders that he could only share with her.

"I understand Mr. Tennyson." Moka responded. "You don't need to worry about a thing. I would never do anything that would get Christian harmed. I plan to support him all I can." She told the old man on the screen with an honest and sincere smile.

Max returned the smile with one of his own, knowing fully that this girl could be trusted. "That's good to hear Moka." he told her. "I'm glad that Christian has a friend like you looking after him."

"Uh…th-thank you…" Moka managed to say, slightly blushing. "I must say Mr. Tennyson, you and Christian both speak Japanese really well." She commented. "Where did you learn to it?"

"Actually, both Christian and I are using universal translators to communicate with you. I'm using the one in my Plumber badge." He explained, showing his badge to the screen so Moka could see it. The pinkette took notice that it looked exactly like the symbol Christian's alien forms had when he transformed. "Christian has one implanted inside of his Omnitrix. It translates any language and allows the user to hear it in the language they are most familiar with. It also allows the people around the user to hear him speak in the language they are most familiar with."

"Doe that means, the entire time he has been here, Christian has been speaking in English?" Moka questioned.

"Probably." Max guessed. "Although, the translator doesn't work on written languages. Therefore, before he came to Japan, Christian was given Japanese lessons so he could understand Kanji." He continued to explain.

"I see. The technology the Plumbers have access to, is amazing!"

"It's nothing that great." Max replied modestly. "It's just us making use of the technology we have been given." Max then put his hand to his face as he realised something. "Moka, as you are the only one at the school who knows Christian's secret, I know that you can hold this responsibility."

"What responsibility?" Moka asked curiously.

"Christian's Omnitrix has a secondary user system." Max explained. "It allows someone else to operate the Omnitrix if Christian is unable to." Moka was surprised to hear that.

"How does it do that?" Moka asked, curious as to how the Omnitrix worked.

"It can either be through a voice controlled command, or by another person activating it for him of course." Max told the curious vampire girl. "Moka, I think you should be the secondary user."

"What? Me?" She asked with a squeaky voice, pointing to herself.

Seeing her reaction, Max gave a short laugh. "You are the best one for the job. Christian, trusts you, therefore I trust you. You can handle the responsibility."

"I'm honoured, Mr. Tennyson." Moka replied. "But shouldn't we check with Christian first?"

"The fact you asked that makes me even more certain that the secondary user should be you." Max stated. "I'm sure that Christian will agree with me, but if you want to ask him first, go ahead."

Moka nodded in gratitude. "Thank you, Mr. Tennyson. I'll ask him the next time I see him."

Max smiled. "I'm sure you will." He told the girl. "Moka, there is one more thing I need to talk with you about." The old man told the vampire.

"Yes, what is it Mr. Tennyson?" Moka asked curiously.

"It's about what's going to happen next week." The old man replied. "And what I would like you to do for Christian."

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Back on the roof, Christian and Zack were both bored. They had been there for about an hour and so far, there hadn't been a trace of the peeper.

"When's this guy gonna show? We've been here for ages!" Zack whined. "I wanna kick this guy's ass already!"

"Keep calm." Christian told his friend. "The key to an effective stakeout is patience."

"You can talk! You've gone Big Chill twice to look around. At least you've moved around!"

"It's not my fault I'm the one who can turn into an invisible flying monster." Christian countered, holding up his 'limiter'.

Zack looked at it for a moment before turning to face away from Christian and grumbled to himself. Once he was done, he looked at the PDA in his hand. "Still nothing on this scanner thing."

"Of course not." Christian deadpanned before standing up. He looked over the area before sighing. "I'm going to do another sweep. I'll be back in a few minutes." With a quick nod from Zack, Christian jumped of the roof. There was a quick flash of light and Big Chill made a brief appearance before he turned invisible.

Once his friend had disappeared, Zack let out a sigh of his own and returned to laying on his back. He wished he could do something to help Christian. Unfortunately, Zack couldn't fly or turn invisible so he couldn't help. The thoughts of the Christian's limiter plagued Zack's mind. It was a powerful thing for Christian to have in his possession. He knew the teen was a human being, so how was he able to use such a powerful limiter? Only monsters should be able use limiters to contain their powers, why did a human need one?

Zack found himself so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice a shadow creep up on him. "So this is the mighty Zackery Orion? I have to say, I am very unimpressed." A feminine voice said behind Zack, making the teen jump to his feet and get into a fighting stance, ready for anything.

Zack eyed the speaker, taking in their appearance. In front of him was a girl with long, waist length purple hair and amethyst eyes. She was wearing a skin tight, buttoned up, black, short sleeved uniform tightly over her voluptuous body. On the side of her right arm was a white and gold armband with a symbol he had never seen before on it. Zack couldn't help but notice that the girl's eyes were squinted and seemed evil. Whoever this person was, Zack didn't trust her. "Who are you?!" He demanded. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't take you out right now!"

The purple haired girl merely smirked at Zack's reaction, amused by Zack's threat. "Calm down jumpy, I only came here to talk."

Despite her claims, Zack didn't lower his guard. "You have five minutes before I lose my cool." Zack replied coldly.

The girl in black smirked again. "Well then, I guess I had better start talking." She said, placing her hand on her hip a before she started talking again. "Do you know about the school's Public Safety Committee?"

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Back with Big Chill, the alien touched down in the forest area in front of the dorms before he turned back into his original form with a flash of green light. Christian turned to look the dorms. "Everything seems peaceful tonight. Maybe the peeper isn't going to show tonight." He commented, looking at the dorms for a few more moments before he began to move his hand to the ear piece. "Better let Zack know to call it a night." Pressing down on the button of the ear piece, the teen began to speak into it. "Zack, come in. It's me. Time to call it a night buddy, I don't think the peepers going to show."

Christian waited a few seconds for a reply, however the only reply he received was static. "Zack?" He repeated. "Zack, do you read me?" He still only received static. "Something's not right." Christian concluded. He reached for the Omnitrix so that he could transform, however no sooner had he chosen the alien he wanted to transform into, he heard a small, muffled, feminine scream.

Knowing that the scream had to have been caused by the peeper's appearance, Christian began running in the direction he had heard the high pitched noise. As he ran, he put his hand back to his ear piece. "Zack I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can I was wrong. The peeper just made his appearance and I'm going after him. I think he's between the dorms. I'll meet you there." He said before he put his finger off the ear piece and re activated the Omnitrix. Selecting the alien he needed, Christian slammed the hand down on the core and in a flash of light, the velociraptor like alien that had caught Yukari two weeks earlier appeared.

"XLR8!" It cried out in a reptilian like hiss dashing forward at staggering speed towards the area between the two dorms. Within moments, XLR8 stood looking around for any sight of the peeper. It was then that a sudden movement caught the alien's eye. He turned just in time to see a clawed fist take a swipe at him. Using his speed, XLR8 zipped backwards, out of the reach of the attack.

Once he came to a stop, the alien looked towards his attacker. Despite being hidden within the shadow of the tree overlooking the dorms, XLR8 was able to make out some of his features. The attacker was clearly in his monster form due to their beast like appearance. He was able to make out the figure had a furry tail and the lizard like alien was able to make out a pair of gleaming red eyes.

"Who are you?!" XLR8 demanded. Getting no answer, the teen continued. "You're the peeper, aren't you? I'm here to turn you in, don't make this anymore difficult then it has to be!" The velociraptor like alien glared at the monster in front of him, determined to catch him so that he could put this entire episode behind him.

However, to XLR8's surprise, the monster began laughing. "You think you can catch me?! That's hilarious!" It countered before disappearing in the blink of an eye. XLR8 looked around and was only just able to make out the monster coming at him from the side at tremendous speed. Unlike the first time, XLR8 was not fast enough to dodge this blow. The monsters clawed fist impacted with the alien's face, sending him flying back in to the side of the boy dorm.

XLR8 managed to dislodge himself from the wall just as the peeper came in for another attack. However this time, XLR8 was the one to move faster. He zipped out of the way, leaving only an after image to attack. The peeper went straight through it and, with the momentum he had already acquired, crashed his fist into the wall, causing it to get stuck. Pain swept through the peeper like a tidal wave as he howled in agony. "OOOOOOWWWW!" The peeper cried. "Why did you have to move!? God! This hurts like hell!"

XLR8, who had whizzed behind the peeper, couldn't help but smirk at the scum bag's predicament. However, now that he was out of the shade of the tree, XLR8 was able to take in all the features of the peeper's monster form. He was very wolf like, and possessed silver fur and a canine like snout. He had dog like ears on the top of his head. His forearms had elongated and the claws on his hands were black and curved. His feet also sported claws and his legs were more dog like. From behind, XLR8 could see that he was wearing the schools uniform. XLR8 didn't need any help figuring out what this monster was, any human could tell what he was.

"So you're a werewolf, huh?" XLR8 said. "This is getting interesting."

The werewolf cocked his head to look at the alien and smirked. "So you know what I am, but I don't believe I have the pleasure of knowing what species you are currently, Christian Hawke."

XLR8 suddenly became very protective. He couldn't place it, but there was something about this guy's voice that was familiar. "How do you know who I am?!"

With a small smirk, the werewolf ripped his hand from the wall. "Oh, please." The beast countered. "Who else on campus had that symbol when they transform?" He asked rhetorically, pointing to the Omnitrix symbol. "It's become pretty famous around here."

XLR8 scowled as he continued to eye the werewolf. "Great, I'm a celebrity." He deadpanned.

"More like a public menace." The werewolf countered. "One that I plan on taking out right now!" He dashed forward, but once again, XLR8 was ready. He ran forward at exactly the same time as the werewolf. The two were just as fast each other. The two collided and ran past one another, both turning in the opposite direction to the other before they came straight back. This time both creatures took a swing at the other. The werewolf used his claws to try and swipe at XLR8's head, only for the alien to drop and skid along the floor, using his tail to try and trip up the werewolf, who managed to jump over it. The two skidded to a halt, several meters apart from one another. The two turned to face one another again, both impressed by the others speed.

"You're fast." XLR8 commented.

"So are you." The werewolf replied. "But nothing is faster than a werewolf!" He cried as he charged again.

XLR8 smirked as his visor came down, showing that he was now serious. "Guess it's time for round two!" With that, the velociraptor like alien dashed forward at a greater speed than before. The two speeding forms began clashing again, too fast for the human eye to see. The two speeding forms constantly flashed back and forth, each one attempting to land a solid blow on the other. This continued for a solid two minutes before the two came to a stop, panting.

'_I'm running out of time.' _XLR8 thought, looking down to the symbol on his chest. _'I need to end this quickly. Maybe it's time to turn this into a dog fight.'_

"Is that all you've got?" the werewolf mocked.

XLR8 smirked before moving his three fingered hand to his chest. "Actually, I'm just getting my second wind!" The alien taunted touching the symbol. There was a bright flash which engulfed XLR8 and blinded the werewolf. When he was finally able to see again, the werewolf's jaw dropped to see what appeared to be another werewolf in front of him.

It had green eyes and grey fur as well as a long flowing black mane with a large bushy black tail. On his hands were four sharp claws on each hand as well as two clawed toes and one hind toe on each foot. The beast wore a green suit and collar as well as green wristbands. He had a white belt around his narrow waist. There were small spikes on both his shoulders as well as another spike at the end of his elbows. The Omnitrix symbol was located on the collar above his fur.

"Blitzwolfer!" the second werewolf howled.

The peeper continued to look at the alien version of his kind for a few more moments before saying, "You honestly think you can beat me using another werewolf? I'll show you whose top dog!" He cried as he dashed towards Blitzwolfer.

However, the alien werewolf merely smirked as he jumped out of the way of the attack just in time. "I'll think you'll find that I'm different from most werewolves." The alien commented before his snout split into four, showing the inside of his green mouth and completely freaking out the peeper.

"Dude, that is gross!" He shouted, absolutely disgusted.

Blitzwolfer's snout temporarily came back together so he could say, "You ain't seen nothing yet." His snout once again split before Blitzwolfer sent out a supersonic howl that stunned the peeper, causing him to cover his ears in pain. However, the attack also attracted the attention of the students in their dorm rooms, including a certain pinkette heading back to her dorm. The howl was so powerful that it sent the werewolf flying back into the forest. Not wanting to let the peeper to get away, Blitzwolfer was about to chase after him when suddenly he heard a scream come from behind him.

Blitzwolfer turned to see a collection of students standing behind him, mostly female.

"It's him!" the one who screamed cried. "It's the peeper!"

"He looks exactly like the shadow that I saw in my window!" Another student cried.

"No, wait!" Blitzwolfer cried, waving his claws at the students. "It's not me! The real peeper is over the-" Blitzwolfer turned to face the direction the peeper had flown only to see him waving mockingly from a tree before using his speed to disappear before anyone else saw him. "re…" he finished as the peeper left his view. He turned back towards the angry girls. "Okay he's no longer there, but you have to believe me, I'm not the peeper!"

The girls ignored the alien werewolf's pleas as they approached him ominously. Then, one of the girls noticed the symbol on his neck which essentially sealed the Omnitrix user's fate. "Hey look!" she cried. "It's the Gaijin! He has the symbol on his neck!"

"Crap." Blitzwolfer said to himself.

"Christian?" a familiar timid voice brought the aliens attention to the pink haired vampire standing at the back of the crowd of students, a shocked expression on her face.

"Moka!" Blitzwolfer cried.

"You didn't do it, did you? You're not the peeper are you?" The vampire asked.

"No! You know I would never do something like that!" Blitzwolfer protested.

"Don't listen to him, Moka!" One of the students from the crowd shouted. "He is definitely the peeper! I mean, he's standing in front of the girls dorm isn't he!?"

Moka looked conflicted. She had no idea what to think. Unable to handle the situation, Moka turned and ran, silent tears covering her eyes.

"Moka! Wait!" Blitzwolfer cried to no avail. He was going to go after her but he found himself blocked by the crowd of students.

"You're not getting away that easily, Gaijin!" One of the male students present said threateningly. "You're going to pay for what you've done!"

"I don't have time for this!" Blitzwolfer shouted, opening up his mouth.

"EEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!" the students shouted, disgusted.

Blitzwolfer rolled his eyes in exasperation before he aimed his head at the ground and used his sonic howl to launch himself high into the air and on to the boy dorms roof, causing all the students below him to cover their ears.

Once he landed safely, Blitzwolfer press the symbol on his collar, turning him back into Christian. No sooner had he changed back, Christian punched the wall in anger. "Damn it!" He couldn't believe it. He had come so close and now everyone thought the peeper was him. After punching the wall again, the teen gathered his wits. He needed to move, there was no doubt the other students were already on their way up to get him. For the mean time he needed to lay low. But where?

Suddenly, the ear piece, which was still in Christian's ear, crackled into life. "Bro, are you there?" Zack's voice came through.

Surprised, he moved his hand to the ear piece. "Zack! Where have you been?! Why didn't you respond when I called you?"

"Sorry Bro, something came up." Zack explained. "Are you okay? Did you catch the peeper?"

"Unfortunately not." Christian replied. "And now I'm in even worse trouble."

"Why?" Zack asked, becoming concerned.

"I don't have time to talk about it now." The Omnitrix user told his friend. "I need somewhere to hide for now. Any ideas?"

There was a brief silence before Zack replied. "There is an abandoned warehouse to the south of the forest. Head to it and I'll meet you there."

With a nod Christian thanked his friend before he heard footsteps coming from the roof entrance. "Gotta go, companies arrived." Christian didn't wait for a reply as he began running for the side of the building and jumped, just as the other students burst on to the roof. Halfway down, there was a green flash and Astrodactyl could be seen flying over the forest as he made his way through the gloomy darkness.

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By the next morning, everyone on the school campus had heard about the events of the previous night. There was a squadron of students, mostly female, on the prowl looking for Christian, who no one had seen since his escape as Blitzwolfer. The students had been looking for him until the last possible moment before they needed to head to school. Not that it was any better. At the school, people began spreading harsher rumours about the Omnitrix user than before. Some claimed that they had actually seen Christian getting his 'kicks' watching the girls undress. The reason he got away so quickly was because he used that howl to propel himself away, like the previous night.

Moka didn't know what to believe. She had been alone all day, avoiding her friends and confining herself to her own thoughts. She just couldn't comprehend the situation at hand. Just over an hour before Christian was caught, they had been having a moment and had reconciled after Gin had effectively thrown a spanner into the works of their relationship. Now, Christian had been discovered of peeping in the girl's dorm in the very form that the girls who'd been peeped on had claimed to see as a shadow on their wall.

As she walked through the corridors, a variety of thoughts crossed her mind as she tried to figure out why Christian would peep in the first place. In her hypnotic like state she didn't realise where she was going. Moka found herself walking into the back of someone, knocking her over.

"I'm sorry." Moka said from the floor. "I wasn't looking where I was-Zack!" Moka cried in surprise. Sure enough, the boy she had walked into was indeed her only other friend beside Christian who was a boy. Although, if you were to look at the two now you wouldn't know it. Zack was glaring at Moka as he stood above her, clearly very angry, but the pinkette doubted it was about her walking into him. "Are you okay, Zack?" Moka asked, nervous about his expression. "Do you…do you have any idea where Christian is?"

Zack remained silent as he looked at her for a few more moments before he simply turned around and began walking away.

Quickly getting to her feet, Moka shouted after her friend, "Zack, what's wrong!? Why aren't you talking to me?!"

Zack continued walking, but he did respond by cocking his head sending her a hard glare before saying, "Don't talk to me until you've got your facts straight."

With that, he turned a corner and vanished from sight, leaving Moka alone in the corridor silently crying, not understanding Zack's words.

"What…did he mean…?" Moka asked herself as she began walking again, now exceptionally confused. She looked out a window as she passed by it, one question on her mind. _'Where are you Christian?'_

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Christian sat on one of the barrels inside of the abandoned warehouse Zack had directed him to the previous night. He was silently seething at the unfortunate amount of luck that had befallen him recently.

He was so angry, desperately wanting to get his hands on the werewolf from the previous night, even contemplating to go ultimate just to teach him a lesson. However the memory of the last time he did so was still in his mind and quickly discarded the idea.

However his thoughts were soon drawn to his vampire friend and the hurt expression that had been on her face when she had seen him. It killed a part of him to realise that Moka thought he was a pervert, when the real one was still out there probably laughing his ass off.

No longer able to control the storm of emotions he felt, he lost his cool. Christian activated the Omnitrix and transformed into the first form on the roster, which was Kickin Hawk. Going mental, the bird like fighter threw the barrel he had been sitting on into the air, allowing it to fall only to kick it into the opposite wall, completely destroying it. Kickin Hawk stood still, panting hard as he regained his composure.

Pressing the Omnitrix symbol, Kickin Hawk reverted back into Christian, who walked over to another barrel in the warehouse. Sitting down he allowed his head to fall into his hands. He could only imagine what his friends must think of him. He wondered what Kurumu and Yukari were doing at that moment. They were probably worrying about him and trying to find a way to prove his innocence. That or they completely believed the lies that were being spread about him and never wanted to see him again. Zack was at the school currently. The two had agreed the previous night that it would be best for him to not go to school until they could prove his innocence. Zack was looking for clues in school whilst he laid low. Christian couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with his friend. When he had met up with him at the warehouse, he had seemed depressed. However, sensing it was a private matter, Christian didn't pry.

The teen's thoughts then returned to Moka.

Moka…Christian's mind went blank whenever he thought of his pink haired friend. It was now that he realised she may never want to see him again that he had an answer to the question he had asked himself the previous night. He did love her. He loved Moka Akashiya and now, he may never be able to talk to her again.

Moving his hands to his head, Christian let out a unheard scream of frustration as he felt the forces of the world act against him.

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Inside the Newspaper Club classroom, Kurumu and Yukari were all alone. They had heard all of the rumours about their friend and couldn't believe them. Kurumu had told Yukari about how Christian hadn't been in class, which was a wise decision considering the amount of peeping tom victims that were after him. However, despite all of the claims against him, Yukari still had her suspicions. "It just doesn't make sense." The young witch thought aloud. "Christian would never do anything like that."

"I know, it's downright absurd! Christian leering at other girls instead of me!" Kurumu fumed. However her comment was lost on the witch who had begun questioning Kurumu's motives and serious-mindedness regarding the situation. Sensing the girl's glare, Kurumu nervously chuckled as she tried to cover it up. "Though you are right about Christian."

Yukari continued to give Kurumu the glare for a few more moments before she stood up from her seat. "Either way, we've got to get to the bottom of this." She declared. "And the best way to do that is by returning to the scene of the crime.

Kurumu could see where Yukari was going. They agreed to meet after school and head to the dorms to do some investigating.

Once school ended, it only took a little over ten minutes for the girls to reach the dorms and when they did, they were surprised to see Zack standing there looking around.

"Zack!" The girls cried, running over to him.

"Oh, hey guys." Zack greeted, a little depressed. "What's up?" He asked.

"We're here to try and find some evidence of Christian's innocence." Yukari explained.

"Yeah! We don't believe for an instant that Christian did those things he was accused of." Kurumu continued.

Zack smiled, happy that some of their friends still believed in Christian. He was angry at Moka for not trusting Christian despite knowing he would never peep. "That's good to hear." He told them. "I'm here looking for clues as to what happened last night." Zack explained. "Bro fought the peeper last night."

"Really!?" The girls exclaimed.

"Yeah, he told me that the peeper was a werewolf." Zack continued, crossing his arms.

"That would explain why no one has seen him until now." Yukari realised. "Werewolves are the fastest monsters out there. And with the amount of full moons there has been recently, the peeper would be able to go at his full speed."

"Are there any tracks?" Kurumu asked, hoping they could prove Christian innocence by showing that he wasn't the only one in front of the dorms the previous night.

"No, they have either been cleared away or other people have stepped on them making it so that they you can't even tell who they belong to." Zack explained.

"Great." Kurumu said sarcastically.

"Do you have any other ideas?" Yukari asked.

Zack nodded. "Yeah, Bro said that when he fought the peeper in his own special werewolf form-"

"Christian can turn into a werewolf?!" The two girls said in unison.

"He told me it's not a normal werewolf." Zack replied. "But that doesn't matter right now. Bro said that he sent the peeper hurtling into the bushes over there." He told them, pointing to some nearby bushes that were close to them.

"Let's take a look then." Yukari said, already walking towards the area Zack pointed out.

Zack and Kurumu shared a look before they began following the young witch. They spent the next few minutes trying to find any clue as to who Christian had fought the previous night. Unfortunately, the three were unable to find any trace of the peeper. No scraps of clothes, no blood and no tracks.

"Did you guys find anything?!" Yukari called from the area she was searching.

"No!" Kurumu replied.

"Nope, zip, nada!" Zack said, still looking through the bushes until something caught his eye. "Hang on, I think I've found something!" He called to his friends, making them run over to him with anticipation. Once they had reached him, Zack showed them the object which he had found. As the object reflected the sun, all three teens realised exactly who the peeper was.

"We need to get Christian." Zack told the girls.

"Yeah, I can't wait to see the ass kicking Chris is going to give that idiot!" Kurumu cried, pounding her fists.

"Wait, guys!" Yukari interrupted. "Someone should tell Moka about this. She may be in danger."

The three shared another look before Zack sighed. "I'll go find Moka." He told them. "You guys go and get Bro. He's in an abandoned warehouse in the forest. Tell him what's going on and get him here as quickly as possible." Kurumu and Yukari nodded before the three teens split up. It was only when they were too far away from each other that Zack realised he had absolutely no idea where Moka was and Kurumu and Yukari realised they only knew that Christian was in an abandoned warehouse, not where it was.

'_Crap!'_ all three teens thought simultaneously. It was beginning to get dark, and they were running out of time.

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Night soon fell over the academy, the red tinted moon shining brightly in the sky, casting its ominous glow over the school.

Moka leaned on the railings of the roof with tears in her eyes. Her thoughts had been completely preoccupied all day on the words Zack had said to her earlier. What had he meant that she needed to get her facts right?

Laying her head on to her arms, she looked miserably out at the academy's landscape. It was then that she realised that she was standing exactly where she had been on the first day of school. She and Christian had come up after they had managed to get away from Saizou. It was here when she had told him she had hated humans. Moka went through a range of emotions. First, sadness that she had hurt her friend once again, next was the anger she felt at herself for not learning from her mistakes. Finally, she felt understanding. She finally understood what Zack had meant. Christian would never peak on anyone. She had known him the longest out of all their friends and she had been the last one to trust him. Now she once again had to find Christian and apologise to him. Somehow, she needed to make it up to him.

With new determination, Moka began to walk towards the roof entrance. However, she had only taken a couple of steps before the sound of the roof door opening caught her ear. The pinkette was surprised to see Gin standing there, an unsettling smile upon his face. He was still wearing his school uniform, although he was missing his wolf head choker.

"Hey!" The sophomore greeted with a cheesy wave. "It's a lovely night, isn't it?" He asked, pointing towards the sky. "And such a beautiful full moon too."

"Gin…" Moka said, slightly nervous around the boy after her inner self's warnings.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing here all alone?" Gin asked. "Crying tears over that pervert?"

Anger rose in Moka at the accusation she could now see was entirely false. "Christian is not a pervert!" She shouted at Gin, causing the boy to smirk.

"Come on Moka, wake up and smell the bacon." Gin reprimanded. "The guy was caught standing outside the girls dorms and then even ran from the scene! He didn't even come to school today! He is practically screaming his guilt!"

Moka took a step back, never faltering in her belief for her friend, but Gin was putting her on edge. There was something off about him at the minute. Suddenly, Gin was behind her, his arm wrapped around her shoulder pulling her closer. Moka looked up at the taller student, fear in her eyes. Gin looked down and gave her a devilish smile. "Just forget about Hawke, alright?" Gin said, his eyes showing a strange hunger. "Tonight, let me comfort you."

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Above the forest, Kurumu was carrying Yukari as they looked for the warehouse Christian was hiding in. They had been flying for hours, looking in abandoned warehouse after warehouse. They were honestly surprised how many there actually were on the school campus. So far, they had actually visited three warehouses and had come up with nothing.

"Where is heeeee!?" Kurumu moaned as she flapped her wings in order to keep her and the witch in the air. "We've been looking for ages!"

"C'mon Kurumu, we gotta find him!" Yukari shouted in order to be heard over the wind. "We need to tell him what we've learned!"

Kurumu nodded and with new determination, she began pumping her wings fiercely in order to propel the two girls as quickly as possible towards the warehouse on the southern side of the forest.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"LET ME GO!" Moka shouted as she tried unsuccessfully to push Gin away from her. "What do you think you're doing!?" She demanded, continuously struggling.

"What am I doing?" Gin repeated calmly, giving the girl a menacing smirk. "I was simply holding you in my arms, babe." He told her.

"You were not!" Moka shouted, battling against Gin's tight grip. "You were feeling me up!"

In reply, Gin merely chuckled and stuck his thumb up towards the moon. "Well…it is a full moon isn't it?" He asked sarcastically. "Under it, my power surges." He explained before looking at Moka more hungrily than ever. "And so do my appetites." Moka stopped struggling for a moment to look at Gin, knowing exactly what he was going to try to do. "So don't fight me." He said, leaning in towards her. "It will only make me mad…and I'll lose control." Gin said through puckered lips as he went to kiss Moka.

"Well you've already made me mad, asshole!" A voice cried from above them, making Gin stop harassing Moka for a moment to look up. It was then that a foot connected with Gin's face, vaulting the teen into the nearby wall, forcing him to let go of Moka in the process.

Moka, who had fallen to the ground when Gin had let go of her, looked up at her saviour and was surprised to see Zack standing in front of her, glaring at the recovering Gin with the wrath of the gods embezzled on his face. "Zack…" She remarked, unsure whether the boy still wasn't talking to her.

"Are you okay?" Zack asked, not turning his head.

"…Yeah…" Moka replied, getting to her feet. "Thank you…"

"You're welcome. Have you got the facts straight?" He asked, a hint of venom in his voice.

"I have…I know now Christian could never do what he was accused of." Moka told the boy.

A shadow of a smile appeared on Zack's face when he heard the girl's words. For the first time since he had appeared, he took his eyes off Gin and turned to Moka. "That's good to hear." He said, giving her a thumbs up. "Now if you excuse me, I have to take a dog to the pound."

With those words, Zack turned and began walking towards the downed Gin, hatred blazing in his eyes. "So, Gin, I bet you think you were pretty smart? That you could get away with all that you've done?" Gin was now back on his feet, eyeing Zack with the same hatred the boy had for him.

"Oh, and what exactly have I done?" Gin asked mockingly.

"Has peeping on all those girls affected you memory?" Zack asked, causing Moka's eyes to widen. "Or are you really that dumb of a dog?"

"Peep? I would never stoop to that level." Gin defended, only to be greeted with Zack and Moka giving him a look of disbelief.

"Really? How about I prove it?" Zack replied, stopping and putting his hand into his pocket in order to fish out something. "You see, Bro fought the peeper last night." He explained, making Gin's smile falter. "And just before he was caught, Bro sent the peeper into the bushes where he was able to escape. I went back there today and guess what I found?" Zack finally took his hand out of his pocket and threw the object from earlier at Gin, which the sophomore was able to catch. He opened his hand to reveal his wolf head choker, a link on the chain broken. "Gin, you are the peeper!" Zack declared, pointing his finger at him.

However Gin just smirked. "That only proves I was there at one point. Not that I'm the peeper." He replied, once again becoming cocky. "Have anything else?"

Zack smiled mockingly. "Actually, yes." Once again digging his hand into his pocket and pulling out some photographs. "These were all in your room. I decided to pay a 'visit' while I was looking for Moka." He explained, showing the pictures to Gin.

Moka approached Zack and took the photos from his hand and was disgusted to find that every picture showed a girl either undressing or already in their underwear. Both her and Zack sent Gin a terrifying glare, causing the boy to take an involuntary step back and making him trip. Gin managed to keep himself on his feet, but suddenly, a mass collection of different photographs fell out of the secret pocket in his jacket and littered the floor. After seeing the photographs in their hands, Moka and Zack were not surprised to see that the pictures on the ground were pretty much the same.

Gin, knowing the jig was up, sighed before he took a step forward. "I guess you've caught me." He said in a surprisingly calm voice. "I have no choice…but to get rid of the witnesses!" He cried as he dashed forward at shocking speed.

He attempted to slash at Zack, his hand transformed into a claw, however just before it made contact, Zack pushed Moka to the side and managed to dodge out of the way by sliding back. "You won't beat me Orion!" Gin taunted, going in to take another slash at the boy. "Just who do you think you are?!"

This time however, despite Gin's speed, Zack quickly jumped to the side and as the semi-transformed werewolf came past him, Zack grabbed hold of his wrist. "The huntsman." He said simply, pressing down on the pressure point on Gin's arm and temporarily paralysing it. While Gin was 'disarmed', Zack unleashed a flurry of punches to the werewolf boy's chest, winding him. Zack then jumped in the air and wrapped his legs around Gin's head, twisted round and pulled Gin backwards, making Gin hit his head on the ground hard whilst Zack simply back rolled of the werewolf, completely unharmed.

"If this is the skill of a werewolf, I'm not impressed." Zack mocked, walking over to the downed wolf.

On the side lines, Moka was amazed by Zack's fighting prowess. She had no idea he was able to fight like that, especially against an S-Class monster like a werewolf, even if it was in human form. Unknown to Moka, her Inner self had been watching the fight through the Rosario and was also impressed by Zack's fighting skills. However she could sense something off about Zack. It felt strangely familiar but different at the same time. She would be unable to tell what it was though.

Zack stood over Gin menacingly and leant down so that he could say something to the downed werewolf boy. He leaned in close and whispered into the boy's ear, "If you ever mess with my friends again, I will personally track you down and skin you alive."

From the floor, Gin looked up at the boy who had defeated him with fear. Zack was terrifying when he was angry and Gin knew that he had meant ever word that he had said.

Upon seeing the look in the untransformed werewolf's eyes, a smug smile appeared on Zack's face. Before he walked away, he said to Gin, "By tomorrow, everyone will know what you have done and what happened here tonight. And then, not even your speed will be able to help you." With that, Zack turned around and began walking back towards Moka, who was still looking at him in awe. Zack smiled reassuringly at the girl as he approached. "Come on," He said, gesturing that they should leave. "Let's go and find Br-AHH!" Zack had been interrupted by, the now fully transformed, Gin. Gin had used his full speed to attack Zack from behind, slicing into his shoulder. Both Moka and Zack looked at the transformed werewolf with mixed looks of anger and shock. Gin however, just laughed, fully knowing that he was the one with the upper hand. Everyone was so focused on Gin, they failed to notice the quick flash of green light to the south of the forest.

Gin appeared above Zack in the blink of an eye. Baring his fangs, Gin snarled at the boy below him. "You think you can skin me?! I'm an S-Class monster! You're nothing compared to me!" He shouted, stomping on Zack's back and keeping him down.

"Zack!" Moka shouted, alarmed. "Gin, stop it!"

"Stay out of this Moka!" Gin snapped at the girl. "There is no way you are getting involved in this!"

"But I will!" A reptilian like voice shouted before Gin was suddenly assaulted from all sides by a blue and black streak. Each time the streak passed him, Gin was sent at a random angle before the streak passed him again and sent him of at another angle. The streak then ran straight up to the werewolf and stopping right in front of him to reveal XLR8 with his visor down. The lizard like alien spun around and used his tail to shoot the weary werewolf backwards.

XLR8 then dashed and grabbed Zack, carrying him over to Moka. "Are you guys okay?" he asked.

"Yeah." Zack winced, holding his shoulder. "The bastard just decided to take the cowardly action." He explained with a smirk.

XLR8 nodded before turning to Moka, his visor still down. "Are you okay, Moka?" XLR8 asked.

"I'm…okay." Moka replied, looking at the alien in front of her with relief. She didn't know why, but for some reason her heart beat accelerated. She felt more at ease now that Christian was there. "Chris…" she started before XLR8 stopped her.

"We can talk about it after this." He told her. "Kurumu and Yukari are on their way. They'll be here soon." The alien then turned back to Zack. "Still got some fight in you."

Zack laughed slightly before he got back on to his feet and rolled his hurt shoulder. "I'm good for now." He told the speed freak. "I'm ready to go whenever you are."

Under the visor, XLR8 smirked before he reached for the symbol on his chest. "I just need to change. Fighting a wolf with a wolf didn't work last time so I think I should try a cat." After the familiar flash, XLR8 was gone, replaced with the mass of orangey rage that was Rath.

"RATH!" The alien tiger shouted before turning to the werewolf that was now on his feet. Knowing what was coming, Moka quickly stuck her fingers in to her ears with Zack following suit, having heard of the events with the three fan boys and the alien Christian had used. "LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN' GINEI MORIOKA! NO ONE ACCUSES RATH OF BEING A PEEPER! NO ONE!" Watching Rath's rant, Zack couldn't help but chuckle. He liked this transformation. "NOW IT'S TIME FOR AN ASS WHOOPIN!"

With those words, Rath charged at Gin, roaring angrily. Zack smirked before running after the raging alien. Rath was upon the werewolf in an instant, however when the alien wrestler attempted to punch the werewolf, he simply disappeared.

"HEY WHERE'D YA GO!? COME OUT AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN…er…MONSTER!" Rath shouted, looking around frantically before Zack tapped him on the shoulder. "WHAT!?" Rath shouted, turning on Zack. "YOU WANNA FIGHT!?"

Zack shock his head and pointed upwards. "He's up there." He said simply.

Rath looked up to where Zack was pointing and saw Gin looking down at him, laughing. "HEY! WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT!?"

"Just you." Gin replied, still laughing. "In that form you're a few bricks short of a wall aren't you?"

"FEW BRICKS SHORT OF A WALL?! LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN GINEI MORIOKA! RATH ISN'T SHORT OF ANYTHING! RATH IS THE WALL!" The response to Rath's rant was a sweat drop from everyone present. "OKAY, MAYBE THAT DIDN'T MAKE ANY SENSE! BUT YOU KNOW WHAT RATH MEANT!"

"No, we really don't." Gin huffed.

"SHUT UP!" Rath shouted, lunging at the werewolf only to miss again as Gin dodged him, appearing twenty feet away from the alien tiger.

"That all you got?" Gin asked.

"Hey, you forgot about me!" Zack cried as he ran at the werewolf, trying to punch him but failed due to the werewolf's speed.

As soon as Gin had appeared again, Rath jumped at the wolf, attempting to pin him down. Unfortunately Gin had noticed and sped out the way again. Rath rolled on the ground and stopped himself next to Zack.

"You know, Bro? Maybe Rath wasn't the best choice for this." Zack pointed out to the angry alien. Big mistake.

"LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN, ZACKERY ORION! RATH IS THE BEST CHOICE FOR EVERY SITUATION!" Rath shouted at his friend before running at the wolf boy once again. "AND RATH'S GONNA SHOW YOU WHY!"

Gin smirked as Rath approached him, too cocky for his own good. Gin effortlessly dodged Rath's blows. With the full moon out, Gin was at his full power. Every time Rath threw a punch at him, Gin would simply move either to the left or right, performing stupid tasks like using one of his claws to get some wax out of his canine like ears. "Too slow-gah!" Gin had become too cocky. Rath had faked a punch and hammered the werewolf in the face when he had dodged in the wrong direction.

Gin was knocked of his feet and landed on his back, skidding several meters away from the alien. "YEAH! THAT SHOWED YOU!" Rath shouted triumphantly. Moka and Zack were surprised by Rath's triumph. Neither of them thought Rath would have been able to hit the werewolf. Knowing one more hit would end it, Rath rushed towards the werewolf. "EAT THIS WOLF BOY! INCURSION BODY SL-!" Rath was interrupted by the sound of the Omnitrix timer causing him to stop in his tracks. "NO! LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN OMNITRIX! DON'T YOU DARE TIME-" The symbol stopped beeping and there was another flash of light. Once it had faded, Christian stood where Rath had been, looking nervous. "-out." He said, finishing Rath's sentence.

Both Moka and Zack looked in horror as Gin rose from where Rath had knocked him to. Gin glared angrily at the untransformed boy as he gave him a nervous wave. The werewolf's eyes glowed menacingly as his teeth appeared to become sharper. "You'll pay for that you mongrel!" Gin rushed forward, his claws bared. "Time to die!"

"Christian!/Bro!" Moka and Zack shouted respectively.

Gin rushed towards Christian and just as his claw was about to pierce Christian, a streak of blue and yellow dashed by, pulling Christian along with it, making Gin's claw strike the ground.

Christian, realising he was in the air, looked up at his saviour. Christian found himself greeted by Kurumu's smiling face. "You okay?" She asked, concerned for her 'destined one'.

"Yeah, I'm good." Christian replied, smiling up at the succubus. "Thanks for the save."

"You're very welcome." Kurumu replied, blushing slightly. The Succubus teen quickly flew Christian down to the roof and landed with him near Moka. As soon as they touched the ground, Moka literally dived on the boy and wrapped her arms around him, crying her eyes out.

"I'm so sorry, Christian!" She sobbed in to the surprised teen's chest. "I should have known you would never peep on anyone. I should have trusted you when we found you last night. It shouldn't have taken me this long to realise it. I'm so sorry!"

Moka was surprised when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. "Moka, it's alright. The evidence was against me at the time. I don't blame you." Moka looked up to see Christian smiling at her. "Honestly, I'm just glad we're still friends." He continued.

From the side lines, Kurumu was brimming with jealousy. Why was Moka getting all of the attention? She had rescued Christian from becoming a werewolf's shish cabob. She was rewarded by Christian turning around and giving her a big smile. "Thanks again, Kurumu. You really saved my neck back there." He told her, causing Kurumu to blush madly. Suddenly Christian noticed something. "Where's Yukari?"

The door to the roof was suddenly flung open to reveal a very peeved Yukari. "Damn it Kurumu! Why didn't you drop me off on the roof instead of making me take the stairs?!" The young witch shouted as she stomped over to her friends.

"Sorry, but I just had to make sure Christian was alright." Kurumu defended, rubbing the back of her head nervously. She then lunged forward and hugged Christian from behind. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to him."

"ENOUGH!" Gin shouted, gaining everyone's attention. "Don't forget about me!" He exclaimed angrily. "How is it that you always end up with the girls?!" He then began stomping on the ground angrily. "That's it! I'm taking you down now and taking Moka for my own!" the werewolf boy shouted as he prepared to attack however he found himself stopped when Zack suddenly got in between the werewolf and his friends.

"If you want to get to them, then you will have to go through me." He declared angrily. "I'm glad you ignored my warning so quickly because now I really get to make you pay."

Christian and the girls looked at Zack like he was crazy. Did Zack honestly think he could take down a transformed S-Class monster on his own?

Gin, on the other hand found it amusing. He laughed manically at Zack's serious face. "You think you can beat me?" he asked, using his speed to dash all over the roof to prove his superiority. "You're nothing compared to the speed of the werewolf!"

Zack's ever watchful eyes looked around, trying to get a beat on the werewolf's location and his movements. _'I need to time this right.' _He thought to himself as he continued to watch. Slowly, he closed his eyes, using a technique he had learned to increase his reflexes. He allowed his anger for Gin to flow through him. His friends watched with awe as a dark aura began roll of his body. It was no were near as powerful as Inner Moka's, but it was still enough to invite fear into the hearts of the onlookers. This was a side of Zack they hadn't seen before and it scared them. No one noticed the Rosario begin to glow again as Inner Moka watched the spectacle from within the seal.

The aura Zack changed his appearance slightly. His hair became spikier and the area around his eyes darkened. Using his technique, Zack was increasing his senses to their max.

Gin, who was still whizzing around the area, knew he had to attack now. He dashed towards the empowered teens, his claws and fangs bared. As he drew closer, time seemed to slow. Gin aimed to slash at Zack's face, knowing it would take out the boy and allow him to finish of Christian.

But suddenly, just before the critical moment, Zack's hand shot up and grabbed a hold of the werewolf's wrist, stopping Gin in his tracks. Everyone's jaws dropped as they gapped at what they had just seen.

"That's impossible." Gin gasped. "How could you have stopped me?"

Zack didn't reply, he simply gestured up towards the moon that was half covered in cloud. Gin couldn't believe his bad luck. But something was still off. Despite the fact he was significantly slower due to the moon being covered, he should still be more than fast enough to take Zack down. How had he grabbed him?

"Time to skin the wolf." He finally said in a dark tone, venom reeling from his words. Gin barely had enough time to be afraid before Zack brought up his knee into Gin's gut, forcing him to bend over. Zack then jumped up on to the werewolf's shoulders and began bashing his fists against the werewolf's head. He then jumped off Gin's shoulders and grabbed the werewolf by the collar and hoisted him, face up above his shoulders. Next, he used his left hand to grab one of Gin's arms and his right hand to take a hold of Gin's legs and pulled them down, stretching the werewolf's back the wrong way and causing him to howl in pain. Finally, he threw Gin to the ground, his friends wincing as they watched the brutality in Zack's moves.

Christian noticed Gin was now unconscious, however Zack looked like he was nowhere near done with the werewolf. Zack stalked closer to Gin, reaching out to grab him again. Knowing Zack would kill Gin if he wasn't stopped, Christian ran out and placed himself between Zack and Gin. A sense of nostalgia ran over him as he remembered Zack had done the same thing when he, as Ultimate Humungousaur, had been pummelling the class rep. This time, it was his turn to stop Zack from doing something he would regret. "Zack, stop!" he shouted, looking the boy squarely in the eyes. "Stop this now! Gin has had enough!"

Zack stopped to look at Christian for a moment, his face stoic and devoid of emotion. "Why?" He asked in a monotone voice. "Since we met him, that idiot has done nothing but work to frame you and hurt me." He pointed out. "Explain to me why I should stop." He demanded.

"Look at what you are doing." Christian pleaded. "Gin is down, you don't need to fight anymore. Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't let your anger consume you." He then gestured to himself. "You saw how I was after I used Ultimate Humungousaur. Don't let it happen to you."

Zack looked from Christian to the unconscious form of Gin. He then looked at the three girls, who were looking at him with looks of fear. Knowing he was out of line, Zack sighed and closed his eyes, allowing his anger to dissipate and his aura disappear. His eyes regained their natural colour and his hair fell. Christian and the girls looked at Zack in suspense as they waited for the boy to say something.

"Zack…?" Yukari asked, tugging at the boy's jacket.

Zack opened his eyes and smiled at his friends. "Hey guys, sorry for scaring you."

"You gave us quite the scare there." Kurumu said with a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, it's good to see you're okay." Moka agreed, the Rosario's glow ceased.

"What was that thing you did?" Christian asked, curious as to what Zack had done.

"It was just a technique I learned in order to protect myself. I call it the 'Aura of Fury'." Zack answered calmly. "Although, while it enhances my strength and reflexes, it boosts my aggression." He explained.

Christian nodded but he couldn't help but look down at the Omnitrix on his wrist. _'Sounds like the evolution feature.'_ He noted before he looked at the unconscious werewolf behind them. "What are we going to do about Gin?"

The five looked at the werewolf on the ground, who had his tongue sticking out of his mouth, and decided to take him to the nurse as quickly as possible. Telling the girls to go back to their rooms and that they would see them the next day, the boys both threw one of Gin's arms over their shoulders and carried him back into the school.

After a few minutes, the boys were in the infirmary. After laying Gin down on one of the beds, Christian decided to stay and wait with Gin while Zack went to get the nurse.

Two minutes after Zack had left, Gin regained consciousness, waking up with eyes full of terror and dread. "Stop!" He cried, shooting his hand up, as if trying to stop something, most likely a dream Zack.

"Hey, calm down!" Christian said, taking Gin's arms and lowering them.

Gin looked at Christian and recoiled slightly. "…Hawke?" He gaped, holding his head and gasping as his whole body flared in pain. "What happened…?"

"You made the mistake of underestimating Zack." Christian replied simply. "He is currently going to get the nurse. Let's just say you weren't in the best of shapes when I stopped him."

"You…stopped him?" Gin asked, still disorientated.

"Yeah, and it's a good thing I did." Christian replied. "Who knows what would have happened otherwise."

"I guess I should say thanks then." Gin said, a small, tired on his face.

"Don't," Christian responded fiercely. "I didn't do it for you. I did it to ensure my friend wouldn't do something he would regret." Gin looked at Christian with wide eyes, surprised by his answer. Christian got up from his seat and walked towards the exit, stopping at the door. "Tomorrow, your little hobby is going too revealed to the entire school. I don't expect you to apologise to me for framing me. I'm sure the female body of the school will punish you enough."

Christian gave Gin no chance to reply before he left the room. He walked down the halls with a lot on his mind. He ran in to Zack and the nurse half way down the corridor. After telling the nurse Gin was awake, Zack and Christian walked back to the dorms together.

They talked about small things, including Zack's channelling technique, although, the teen was reluctant to tell Christian where he had learned the skill. Once again agreeing that the two needed to spar at one point, the two split up and headed back to their respective dorm rooms, both just wanting the night to end.

However, as Zack lay awake in bed, his conversation with the girl from the previous night weighed heavily on his mind. He didn't know what to think about what he had been told and whether he should act on them. As he rolled on to his side, one thing was on his mind.

'_Should I become a member of the security committee?'_

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The next day, using the Newspaper Club's resources, Christian's name was cleared and the school body learned the true identity of the real culprit. Gin had been held in the infirmary until he was discharged around midday. After finding his club members, Gin apologised for his actions and admitted that both Christian and Zack were tough and that he needed to be careful around them.

Of course, as soon as he had left the club room, Gin had been chased off by several members of the female student body. The Newspaper Club could have done something about it, but at the moment they were busy handing out pamphlets declaring Christian's innocence and Gin's guilt.

Christian smirked as he looked behind him to see Moka, who was putting up a poster on the notice board using a ladder. "I say this turned out quite well, don't you Mo-" Christian stopped his sentence when he realised he had accidently looked up his friends skirt.

"Don't look while I am out here!" Moka cried, kicking Christian in the head. Unfortunately she forgot how much strength she had and knocked Christian out in the progress. Moka gulped and jumped down from the ladder and knelt down next to the unconscious Christian. She picked him up in her arms. "I'm so sorry, Christian." She said, trying to wake up her friend. Suddenly, the teen's scent wafted over her, causing the vampire girl to blush. "You smell so good, Chris…"

Christian came to for a moment, only for his eyes to widen as he watched Moka lean in and bite his neck.

CHUUU!

Christian sighed. If this was the price of love, it was a small one to pay.

**There you go. I hope you all enjoyed, it was a horror writing this chapter.**

**I am pleased to announce that the winner of the bounty hunter poll with a score of 7:4 was Khyber the huntsman. Khyber will be appearing in three chapters time and will present Christian and the gang with a new threat. It is something to look forward to. I also hope you liked Zack's fight scene. I hope you paid attention to his little trick with his aura. It will be important in chapters to come. Moka's conversation with Max will be revealed next chapter, but I am keeping Zack's conversation with the enforcer a secret for now. It will lead to something big.**

**As always, please leave your reviews and I will see you next time. Bye!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Hello everyone, I'm back with a new chapter. I'm sorry for the late update but I have been swamped with school work and revision as well as other responsibilities I'm not going to bore you with. Therefore I have another long chapter for you with a small surprise near the end, I hope you like it.**

**I also want to say I'm sorry to anyone who chose Sixsix in the last poll. I did have a story line for both bounty hunters but I had to go with the majority vote. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I have been looking forward to writing it for ages. It is one of my favourites in the manga.**

**Also, due to a request, I have changed one of the aliens Christian can use. I have changed Spidermonkey for Eye Guy due to something that is going to happen in the story later on.**

**Also, just out of curiosity, would anyone be willing to design any fan art I can use for this story's cover. I would greatly appreciate it and I will give the designer full recognition in every chapter that it is used. Anyone who wants to send in any submissions, please send them a PM and I'll give you an email address so that you can send it to me so I can look at it. I will be choosing the best one to use. Thank you in advance.**

**Without further a due, on with the show.**

"**..." Speech**

'**...' Quote**

'**H**_**i' Thought**_

"**Learn your place!" **Inner Moka through Rosario

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC, Zack belongs to Lewamus Prime**

**Alien Watch in a Monster School**

**The Medusa's Kiss**

**Friday: present**

Moka sadly trudged down the gloomy corridors of the academy towards the infirmary. She had been on the verge of tears for hours, only able to keep them back by the small amount of resolve that she had left. Clasping the Rosario in her hand, Moka quickened her pace.

Upon reaching the door, the vampire girl found herself hesitating, recoiling her hand from the handle. She didn't want to have to look at what was on the other side again. She felt her heart would break if she did. However, Moka knew this was something she had to do. Steeling herself, she opened the door and walked into the dark room.

The room was devoid of life, not a moving soul inside. In the right corner of the room, a still figure was lying down on the bed. Moka approached the figure slowly, trying fruitlessly to keep back her tears as she looked at the still occupant.

What was strange about the occupant was that it was a stone statue. Its arms were positioned strangely. The right arm was frozen in place just above its chest, the hand looked as if it had been holding a small object loosely whilst the left arm was by the bodies side but at a right angle, as if holding another person's waist. Even stranger, the statue was wearing the male academy uniform.

The statue was extremely well crafted, not a detail had been left out. Each hair on the statue's head was incredibly well designed, making each lock look real. The statue appeared to have been designed with it eyes closed, giving the appearance it was sleeping. A smile was on the statues face, adding to the peaceful look.

Moka sadly looked over the grey work of art, taking in all of its features. Slowly, she moved to sit down in a chair on the left hand side of the bed. She remained there for a few minutes, silently staring at the statue, before her eyes trailed down towards the statues left wrist where there was a black and green, futuristic, watch with an hour glass symbol on the face.

'_Why?' _Moka thought in misery. _'Why did this have to happen?'_

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**Sunday: six days earlier**

"Bring it, Zack!"

"You're on, Bro!"

In a small alcove behind the Yokai dorms, Christian and Zack stood ten meters apart from one another, both ready to fight. Both teens were dressed in track suit bottoms. Christian had a t-shirt on whilst Zack wore a tank top. Christian's bottoms were black with green stripes running up to the waist. His t-shirt was white and tight fitting showing of his muscles. Both Zack's bottoms were black and tank top were white, the bottoms having red flamed patterns around the legs.

The teens charged at each other, colliding in the middle where both attempted to swivel kick the other, missing each other by milli metres. Once they steadied themselves, Zack threw a punch at Christian's stomach attempting to wind him, however the teen managed to block it and threw Zack's arm up and used the chance to try and push his opponent back. But Zack was too fast, bending backwards and used one arm perform a back flip, kicking out his legs at the same time, catching Christian's face.

Zack landed cleanly on his feet, already in another fighting stance. Christian, having recovered from the face attack, glared at his friend. "Show off." He growled.

The other boy merely smirked in return. "Sore loser." He charged at Christian again. Zack was upon him in a second, throwing a variety of punches, jabs and kicks that put Christian on the defensive immediately.

"I. Thought. You. Were. Better. Than. This." Zack said between his attacks.

"Just. Biding. My time."

"For?"

"This!" Christian shouted, ducking underneath a high kick Zack had tried to use. He spun around on the ground, using his right leg to knock Zack's other foot out from under him, causing the teen to fall to the ground. "Not so fun being the guy on the ground now is it?" Christian asked mockingly.

Looking up, Zack laughed. "Nope, but you were there first." He responded, using his hands to propel himself back to his feet. "Ready for round two?"

From the side lines, Moka, Kurumu and Yukari watched with anticipation as their friends sparred against each other. It was Sunday, two days after Gin had been revealed as the peeping tom who had been stalking the girl's dorm at night. Things were a little better for Christian now. Some of the people who had once insulted him had actually apologised for treating him so badly. It was only a small number but Christian was happy he was being seen in a better light.

Today, Christian and Zack decided to finally have the spar they had been talking about before they headed to the club. Apparently it was compulsory to have club activities at the weekend, not that anyone minded. They liked being in the Newspaper club together, it gave them the chance to hang out and work on designing something together. Everyone still had negative opinions on Gin, especially Zack who pretty much hated the werewolf's guts, but they were going to try and start fresh with him.

As Moka watched the spar between her friends, her gaze couldn't help but wander to Christian. She remembered that she still needed to talk to Christian about becoming a secondary user for the Omnitrix. She didn't really fully understand how it worked, but apparently she would be able control it via voice commands when Christian was unable to. It was this thought that also made Moka remember the second part of her conversation with Max Tennyson.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_It's about what's going to happen next week." The old man replied. "And what I would like you to do for him."_

"_What is it Mr Tennyson, I would do anything if it will help Christian and his mission." Moka responded, her hand over her heart._

_Seeing her reaction, Max chuckled. "I'm sure you would. You are a good friend Moka but the actually has nothing to do with his mission."_

"_Then what is it you want me to do?" Moka asked, a little confused._

"_You see, it's Christian's birthday next Friday." _

"_Really?!" Moka cried excitedly. "That's great! He'll be sixteen!"_

"_Yeah." Max said, surprisingly unenthusiastic. "You see, there is something you should know about Christian." Moka looked strangely at the man on the screen. Taking it as a sign to continue, Max started talking again. "Well, Christian doesn't exactly like to celebrate his birthday."_

"_What!?" Moka exclaimed, before quickly covering her mouth and looking towards the door. It would be very bad if she was discovered on her own inside a boy's room. After making sure everything was clear, Moka turned back to Max. "Why doesn't he enjoy his birthday?"_

"_It's…a sensitive subject." Max started. "It was nine years ago. Christian was only six and was full of hope for the world. It was only a week before his seventh birthday when his parents were called away on an assignment. There had been an attack at a Plumber Base by a being no one had ever seen before. His parents were two of the best Plumbers we had so they went in alone to investigate."_

_Moka nodded, curious as to what she was going to be told next._

"_We don't know exactly what happened." Max continued. "But apparently there was a massive battle. The Plumbers had been unprepared for the threat." Max said sadly as Moka gasped, coming to understand what had happened. "We lost many good people that day, including Christian's parents." Hearing this, Moka's eyes widened with shock. Christian had told her his parents had died but he had never said how._

"_That's terrible…" Moka said gloomily. "I can't believe that happened…"_

_Max nodded half-heartedly before he began to recount the events that followed. "Christian's parents were supposed to return for his birthday, he had been staying with me for the week since I was a family friend. When they never came to get him, I used my resources to find out what had happened. You can imagine my shock when I learned what had transpired." Moka nodded in reply, tears forming in her eyes. "How do you tell a boy his parents died and that he'll never see them again on his birthday? It was one of the hardest moments of my life." Moka's tears began to dribble down from her eyes as she listened to the heart breaking tale. "Of course, then I had to tell him how they died and what they did for a living. The poor boy was distraught. When we returned to his house, he locked himself in his room and didn't leave for days."_

"_Wasn't there anyone to look after him?" Moka asked._

"_Christian unfortunately had no other family." Max told her. "Therefore, I looked after him for a while until someone could be found to care for him. When he finally left his room, he was vowing revenge against the one who killed his family. It may not seem like it at the minute, but he is still looking, despite the fact he doesn't know what it looks like." Moka was amazed that Christian was still holding all that hatred inside of him, especially after how he had acted after the event with the Class Rep. "At his parent's funeral, Christian stayed longer than anyone else, just sitting in front of their graves. He made them a number of promises," Max continued, a small smile appeared on his face. "The remarkable thing is that he has kept them. He is continually working to keep his word to his parents."_

_Moka was listening with a great amount of intrigue. She had never known Christian was so dedicated to his parents' memory. "That…is incredible." She replied, trying to find the right words._

_Once again Max nodded before his face turned solemn again. "However, ever since that day Christian has never celebrated his birthday, he sees it as the day that took his parents from him." Max explained. "That's why I want you to try and make him celebrate it." He suddenly said, his old eyes looking through the screen into Moka's._

"_What?" _

"_I want you to try and find a way to get Christian to celebrate his birthday." Max repeated. "I can tell you are someone he feels close to and since you are the only one who knows he's human, he trusts you."_

"_But-" _

"_Please Moka, I'm not asking you to do this as Christian's superior. I'm asking this as a stupid old man who is worried about his friend's son." Max explained. "Christian needs a little more joy in his life and I know he is happiest around you."_

_Moka's cheeks warmed a little hearing the old man's words. "I'll…I'll try." Moka said finally._

_Max smiled happily. "Thank you, Moka." He said before looking at his watch. "I have to go now. It was very nice meeting you and remember to get Christian to admit you as the secondary user." _

"_I will Mr Tennyson. I was nice talking to you." Moka replied with a smile as she ended the communication and closed Christian's laptop before leaving the room, being careful not to be seen. She began making to leave the dorm when a loud and high pitched howl sounded through the area, alerting everyone in the dorm to a fight outside._

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As Moka continued to watch Christian and Zack, she couldn't help but feel frustrated with herself for forgetting Christian's troubles when she had seen him outside the girl's dorm as Blitzwolfer. She had been a bad friend to Christian and she swore she would make it up to him by finding a way for him to celebrate his birthday.

"Come on Christian!" Kurumu shouted encouragingly, bringing Moka out of her thoughts. "Clobber him!"

"My moneys on Zack." Yukari chimed in, making the blue haired succubus glare at her. "What? I like Chris just as much as you, but look at the data!" Yukari told Kurumu loudly. "Zack was able to fight and beat a werewolf, an S-Class monster, in his human form. If they aren't going to use their monsters forms, Zack has got this won." Yukari explained.

As Kurumu and Yukari began arguing over who they thought would win the little spar, Moka looked on with absolutely no opinion. Having watched the spar from the beginning, she could see that the two teens were evenly matched. Whenever one threw a punch, the other would block it. Neither of them had a clear advantage. At this point, it was either boy's game.

In the fight, Christian had only just dodged a punch that had been aimed for his head. "Nice try!" He laughed, preparing to kick at his opponent. Seeing it, Zack blocked the attack and twisted his foot, making Christian spin in mid-air.

"Yeah, but that was better." Zack chuckled as Christian landed on the ground. "Ready to call it quits?" He asked.

"I'm just getting warmed up." Christian responded with a smirk, jumping back up. "Ready to go again?"

"I'm good as long as you are." Zack replied with a smirk of his own. With those words, the two continued to fight.

Back at the side line, Moka's Rosario began to glow, alerting Moka to the arrival of her Inner self.

"**It appears that these two are quite competent when it comes to hand to hand combat." **Inner Moka remarked. **"But if they still have a long way to go before they will be able to match me." **

Outer Moka sweat dropped at her Inner Self's remark. Apparently she didn't understand why Zack and Christian were sparring. She must have thought they were trying to train to fight her. "Yeah, I guess they do…" Outer Moka deadpanned with an awkward smile.

Sensing her outer self's unease, Inner Moka sighed. **"It will be fine." **She said with a sincere tone. **"Hawke cares for you. Anything you do for his birthday will make him happy." **She told her.

Moka nodded slightly as she watched Christian land a blow on Zack's stomach. "I know…it's just…I want to make him happy." Moka explained. "It's the least I can do for him."

Inner Moka was silent for a moment before replying. **"If you want to do something special for Hawke, do something that he will never forget. Give him something from the heart." **With that the Rosario ceased glowing. Moka was left thinking about what her Inner Self had said.

'_She cares about him to.' _She thought. However, before Moka could do anything else she heard Kurumu shout from beside her.

"No! You guys can't be done now!" She cried, making Moka look up to see Christian and Zack supporting each other, panting hard. "I have a bet with Yukari!"

The two boys walked over to their friends, still taking in vast amounts of oxygen. "Sorry…but we're…knackered…" Christian said between breaths.

"Yeah…I'm…spent…" Zack agreed.

"C'mon, go a few more rounds! One of you has to win eventually!" Yukari added, wanting to win the bet she had apparently made with Kurumu.

"Sorry Yukari…not gonna happen." Christian told the young witch before he let go of Zack and stretched. "Besides, we need to get going soon if we want to get to the club on time."

Reluctantly, Kurumu and Yukari both nodded. Moka just smiled.

"But first, Bro and I need to go and get changed." Zack said. "It won't be good if we show up to the club in sweaty clothes." The girls looked strangely at the boys before they realised what Zack was talking about. Both Christian and Zack were drenched in sweat, their clothes sticking to their skin allowing the three girls to make out the muscles the two had. All three girls felt their cheeks heat up as they looked at the bodies of their friends.

"Yeah, probably a good idea." Moka said in a squeaky voice. However, the vampire girl realised this would be a good time to talk to Christian. "Um…Christian, Would you mind if I asked you something? It's important." She said, happy that Kurumu was still goo-goo eyed over her friends body.

A little surprised, Christian nodded. "Yeah, okay. What about?"

Not wanting to give away Christian's identity by mentioning the Omnitrix, Moka looked towards it on her friends left wrist. Automatically understanding, Christian agreed. "Okay, how about we walk back to the dorm together and talk as we go. Once I get changed, we can head to the club together." He suggested.

"No fair!" Kurumu suddenly shouted, catching the pair's attention. "I want to walk with him too!" she cried, latching on to Christian's arm.

"Oh no you don't!" Yukari shouted, making a golden wash pan appear over Kurumu's head and dropping it on her, effectively knocking her out. "You and I are going to wait in the club room and let them have this moment!" She told the unconscious succubus as she began dragging her away, but not before giving the thumbs up to Moka. She wanted her friend to have the best chance she could possibly have with the boy she liked, not that she wasn't a little jealous about it.

Moka, Christian and Zack watched the spectacle with a small sweat drop, chuckling nervously. After a few moments, Zack looked towards the other two. "I'm going back to my room, I'll see you guys at the club."

"Alright. We'll see you there." Christian replied, fist bumping the teen before he left, leaving him and Moka alone in the clearing. Once he was sure they were on their own and out of the ear range of anyone else, Christian began talking. "I'm assuming Magister Tennyson told you about the secondary user system?" he asked, hitting the nail on the head straight away.

"Yeah…" Moka said, nodding her head. "But if you don't want me as the secondary user, that's-"

"I believe you are the best candidate for it." Christian interrupted. "It would honour me if you would be the secondary user." He added, smiling warmly at her.

Moka remained silent for a moment before she jumped at Christian. "Thank you!" She shouted as she hugged him.

"It's okay, seriously." Christian replied. "Okay then, let's make it official." He said, causing Moka to let go of him and look at him happily.

"What do I need to do?" She asked curiously.

"Just stand there for now." Christian replied, raising the Omnitrix and pressing one of the side buttons and began speaking. "Omnitrix, command code 5, designation: secondary user. Code 0-0-1-1-0-1."

Suddenly the Omnitrix touch screen slid back and its core popped up. "COMMAND CODE ACCEPTED." A technological version of Christian's voice responded. This surprised Moka. She hadn't expected the Omnitrix was able to talk. "OMNITRIX WILL NOW ENTER SCAN MODE. PLEASE DESIGNATE SCONDARY USER." Suddenly the core emitted a beam of green light which Christian directed towards Moka.

Moka tensed slightly as the beam went over her, but relaxed after Christian assured her she wouldn't be hurt. The ray went from the top of Moka's head down to her feet three times before fading and the core slid back into place, the touchscreen re-covering it within moments. "OMNITRIX SCAN COMPLETED. NEW UNCATEGORISED DNA DETECTED. SHOULD OMNITRIX STORE DNA SAMPLE?"

Christian was unprepared for that question. On the one hand, it would be incredible to be able to turn into a vampire like Moka. On the other hand, he shouldn't take Moka's DNA without her permission. And then there was what Inner Moka would do if she learned he took her DNA without **her** permission. The thought of being on the receiving end of one of her powerful kicks was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

"Christian…?" Moka called, bringing the boy out of his thoughts. "What did it just say?" she asked. "I didn't hear it."

"It's nothing to worry about Moka." Christian replied before returning to looking at the Omnitrix. "Negative, do not store DNA sample."

The Omnitrix screen flashed twice before it responded. "COMMAND CONFIRMED. NEW DNA SAMPLE HAS NOT BEEN STORED. PLEASE HAVE SECONDARY STATE THEIR DESIGANTION."

Christian looked at Moka, sending her a silent message to say her name. "Um…Moka Akashiya." She said nervously, unsure about what was going to happen.

The Omnitrix flashed once again, processing the new data. "SECONDARY USER, DESIGNATION: MOKA AKASHIYA, HAS BEEN SAVED TO OMNITRIX SERVER. VOICE PRINT SAVED. MOKA AKASHIYA'S COMMAND CODE IS DESIGNATED 1-1-0-1-0-1." The Omnitrix waited for a few moments before it continued. "TO VERIFY CODE, PLEASE GIVE VOICE COMMAND USING SECONDARY USER DESIGNATION."

Moka looked at Christian in confusion, wondering what to do. Picking up on it, Christian said, "Repeat after me. Omnitrix, secondary user system activate."

"Omnitrix, secondary user system activate." Moka repeated, causing the Omnitrix to begin beeping.

"Designation Moka Akashiya." Christian then said.

"Designation Moka Akashiya." The Omnitrix beeped again.

"Command code: 1-1-0-1-0-1."

"Command code: 1-1-0-1-0-1." Moka repeated once again. This time the Omnitrix blinked several times before it spoke in Christian's electronic voice.

"MOKA AKASHIYA VOICE PRINT CONFIRMED. PLEASE INPUT COMMAND."

Moka once again looked at Christian for help, unsure what to say. "Tell it to transform me into one of my aliens." Christian told her.

Moka nodded. "Omnitrix, transform Christian into…um…XLR8?" Moka said, earning a flash from the Omnitrix in return. Suddenly the Omnitrix exploded with light that engulfed Christian and forced Moka to cover her eyes. When the light had faded, XLR8 was standing tall.

"Well it looks like it worked." XLR8 said happily, looking down at his claws.

"Yeah, it did." Moka replied happily. "I'm a secondary user."

"Actually, you the secondary user." XLR8 corrected. "The Omnitrix can only have one and you're it."

"Really?" Moka asked, touched she had such an honour and that Christian trusted her.

"Yep." XLR8 nodded. "Now I'm gonna go and get changed. I'll be back in a minute." With that, XLR8 dashed off, leaving Moka alone.

Moka walked over and leaned against a tree as she waited for Christian to return. As she waited, many things were on her mind. Mostly how she could repay Christian for the trust he had in her on his birthday.

She had barely thought of anything before XLR8 dashed up to her. "Are you done?"

"Uh, huh." The velociraptor like alien confirmed. "C'mon we need to get to the club quickly." He added, suddenly dashing forward and picking Moka up in his arms before whizzing off towards the school building only leaving a trail of blue and black behind him.

Moka was amazed by the speed they were going. Almost instantly, she loved the feeling of the wind blowing against her hair. However, no sooner had they begun, the two came to a halt in the middle of the Newspaper Club room. Putting Moka down, the vampire and transformed human looked up to see Kurumu and Yukari staring at them.

"What?" The two asked together.

"Moka…your hair." Yukari said, pointing to at the pinkette's head.

XLR8, pressing on the Omnitrix symbol and reverting back to Christian, looked at Moka and automatically began trying to hold his laughter.

"What!?" Moka demanded, feeling slightly embarrassed when Kurumu began laughing as well. Yukari, who was giggling like crazy, handed Moka a small looking mirror she kept in her hat (why one was there, no one will ever know) and handed it to Moka.

Moka quickly looked at her reflection and screamed in horror at what she saw. The speed from XLR8's run had completely messed up her hair, turning her waist length pink hair in to a massive afro. Putting down the mirror, Moka wasted no time in smoothing out her hair, using her hands to unfurl the ball of pink until it was back to its normal state. Moka sighed in satisfaction when she looked in the mirror again but frowned when she saw Christian was still snickering.

"It wasn't that funny…" She murmured, pouting and putting her two index fingers together.

Yeah, you're right." Christian replied, stopping his snigger but keeping his slightly mocking smile. "Sorry about that. I guess XLR8 is faster than I thought."

"You shouldn't be apologising to her! You should be apologising to meeee!" Kurumu whined as she jumped up and latched herself around the surprised Christian. "How could you let me come here alone when you carried Moka?!" Christian tried to answer but at that point, Kurumu had just pulled him into her chest, preventing him from talking. "You'll have to find some way to make it up to me now." Kurumu stated, grabbing Christian's head and angling it so that he was looking her in the eyes. "I think I have one idea of how you can do that." She said, leaning in to try and kiss the reluctant Christian.

"Hey! Cut that out!" Yukari shouted, waving her wand and dropping another washtub on top of Kurumu's head, causing the succubus to automatically let go of Christian and fall to the ground, completely stunned. "Christian belongs to me!" the young witch shouted, running over and hugging him around the waist. "Or Moka!" She added quickly, forgetting she was also routing for her friend's love.

Recovering, Kurumu jumped up and began shouting at Yukari. "What was that for?!" She shouted. "Why do you always need to come between me and my destined one?!" Suddenly, Kurumu's fingernails began to grow, signifying she wanted a fight.

"Your destined one? Christian is ours!" Yukari countered, letting go of the teen and pulling out her wand. "If you want him you will have to take him!"

The girls would probably have actually followed through on their threats if Christian hadn't come between them. "Enough!" He shouted. "Can we stop fighting for one minute and actually start club activities."

Kurumu and Yukari automatically calmed down, sitting back down in their chairs. It was at this point that Zack entered the room, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Hey Zack." Moka greeted, giving him a small wave. "You okay?"

"Huh…uh, yeah. Hi." The boy replied, coming out of his thoughts.

"Is something wrong?" Christian asked, walking over to his two friends.

"Yeah, don't worry about me Bro." Zack told him, waving off his attitude. "C'mon, let's start the club." With that he walked past his friends and went to sit down with the bickering Kurumu and Yukari. Moka and Christian shared a look before following Zack and sitting down at the table. When they had sat down, Zack looked around before asking hatefully, "So where's the dog?"

"It doesn't look like Gin's here yet." Christian replied, not nearly as angrily. He had forgiven Gin for his actions when he had apologised to him. It didn't mean he trusted him though.

"He's probably out taking pictures of girls." Kurumu remarked angrily.

"Yeah, let's forget about him! We can make our own progress!" Yukari cried in agreement.

Everyone nodded enthusiastically before they realised one thing. None of them knew the first thing about making a newspaper.

"Has anyone got any ideas?" Zack asked.

"I'm sure the club has some old newspapers somewhere." Moka said helpfully. "Perhaps we could look at a few of them and see if we can pick up any techniques for layout and writing."

"That's a good idea Moka." Yukari said, making the pinkette smile.

"Well what are we waiting for?!" Kurumu cried energetically. "Let's find those papers!"

"YEAH!" The group cheered as they began scouring the club room for any old papers. They searched fruitlessly for several minutes with nary a paper to be found. Finally, after several more minutes, Kurumu let out a cry of success.

"Yahoohoo! Look what I found!" Kurumu brought over a large, dusty box of old newspapers which she placed on the table.

"Great work, Kurumu." Christian said.

"Oh, it was nothing." Kurumu replied modestly.

"Well c'mon, let's take a look already!" Zack exclaimed, desperate to start making papers of his own. Everyone agreed with the teen as they opened up the box and took out a collection of old newspapers. However, the first thing everything everyone did upon looking at the cover was gasp. For the front page picture showed none other than a blue and black velociraptor like creature with a white strip running down it and had wheels on his feet. The creature had green eyes and appeared to be waving at the camera with its three clawed hand. However the most disguisable feature the creature had was the hour glass like symbol on its chest.

"No way." Kurumu started, utterly bewildered.

"That's…" Yukari continued, completely surprised.

"XLR8." Zack finished, looking at the nervous Christian.

The teen in question said nothing as he looked at the paper. He noticed the article was from five years ago, meaning that the XLR8 in the picture was Ben Tennyson before he took of his first Omnitrix for the first time. It wasn't him but this would be difficult to explain. Moka, who was standing next to Christian, also looked worried. What would happen if their friends found out about Christian's true identity?

"Christian…is that you?" Yukari asked, a little hesitantly, pointing to the picture on the cover.

Thinking fast, Christian answered, "No, I wasn't able to turn into XLR8 five years ago." He only half lied, five years ago he hadn't been able to transform at all. "I only got XLR8 recently." He explained. "That's most likely another shape shifter. We tend to have…a hero complex." Honestly, he didn't think they would believe that explanation. Fortunately though, luck was on Christian's side.

"Okay, after seeing what you're like, that makes sense." Yukari said, nodding her head in understanding.

"That's cool, it's like your species are heroes." Kurumu added.

Zack said nothing but just smiled none the less.

"Hey, there are more papers in here." Yukari pointed out, separating the newspapers to show each one was different and had each had a different hero on. Every single paper was from five years ago. The only other heroes the girls recognised were Blitzwolfer and Ripjaws. The other heroes consisted of a being made completely out of rock and flame, another was red, had four arms and was extremely muscular. There was even one that appeared to be a giant plant on five legs.

"These are incredible." Moka remarked in awe. Christian had shown her most of his aliens and she had recognised a few of them from the pictures but there was still a few she didn't recognise.

The papers were from America but had been translated in to Japanese for reader convenience, meaning the girls and Zack were able to read them. They were amazed by the feats the heroes had accomplished. Apparently no one knew what they were but the only similarity between all of the strange heroes was the hour glass symbol that was always present somewhere on their body.

"The monsters your species can turn into are so impressive Chris." Yukari remarked, reading an article about a small but brainy, frog like creature stopping a robbery at a carnival.

"I like this guy." Zack said, showing a picture of a ghost like alien that Christian knew was Ghostfreak, or Zs'skayr as he liked to be called. He was an alien Ben had been able to use before it gained sentience and tried to kill him.

"Yeah, not exactly one of my favourites." Christian responded, never really liking Ben's ghostly transformation.

"Are you able to turn in to him?" Zack asked excitedly, wanting to see the alien in the flesh.

"Sorry, I can't turn into that one." Christian told him, making the other boy's smile drop into a disappointed frown.

"That sucks!" Zack cried childishly. He had really wanted to see Ghostfreak.

"What does?" A voice asked from the doorway. The five turned to see Gin standing there with a smirk on his face.

"Just you." Zack said angrily. He really didn't like the werewolf teen.

"Whoa, easy there." Gin said, feigning a hurt look. "There's no need to be hurtful."

Zack scowled as he turned around. "Whatever…" he growled, resisting the urge to punch Gin.

"For a werewolf, you sure are late." Christian remarked, raising a suspicious eyebrow at the headband wearing boy.

"I know and I'm sorry." Gin replied, smiling smugly. "But I just got us a great new scoop."

"A great…" Christian and Zack started.

"New scoop?" The three girls finished, looking at Gin doubtfully.

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A few minutes later, the members of the Newspaper Club were gathered around a bunch of tables that they had put together in order to talk as a group. Gin stood at the head of them, a file in his hands.

"As you can see from this folder," Gin said, opening the item and placing it in the middle of the joined tables, "a number of the female students have disappeared over the course of the last month and a half." Gin continued to explain as he walked over to the nearby window and looked out of it with a hand on chin. "It is suspected that they have been kidnapped and are still on campus as no one has been reported to have left the academy."

"Gin really takes this kind of stuff seriously, doesn't he?" Moka whispered to her friends.

"Yeah, it makes a difference to what he's normally like." Kurumu replied, ever so slightly impressed, although Gin was about to prove her wrong.

"Each one of those girls was attractive in their own right." Gin said as a depraved grin spread across his face. "If I save them, then they will see how heroic I am and fall in love with me." He said, revealing his true intentions and causing the other members of the club to sigh in exasperation.

"Yeah, like that's ever going to happen." Zack mocked sarcastically, getting up from his seat and grabbing hold of Gin's ear and tugging on it tightly. "I think you need to be reminded of your little lesson from the other day." He said menacingly as he began to drag the werewolf of to the other side of the room.

"Please don't..." Gin whimpered as Zack eyes seemed to flash red with menacing aura.

After a quick beat down, (a punch to the stomach and a kick in the crotch), Zack sat back down, looking very satisfied.

Christian, who had been examining the contents of the folder, which were the profiles of the missing students, asked, "So basically what you want us to do is investigate these girls' disappearances?"

"Yeah…" Gin replied weakly from the floor, holding his private area. He was still recovering from his lesson. "This is a huge scoop after all. Despite what I might say, we really do need to help find those girls."

Christian sighed as he thought things through. It didn't take him long to come up with a decision about what to do. "Ok, I'll find out what happened." He declared. However, the pride in his voice seemed to vanish seconds later when he felt two soft objects press against his back.

"Don't you mean 'we', honey bunny?" Kurumu purred, stroking the side of Christian's face with her right hand. "I know we'd make and excellent team."

Before the uncomfortable teen could even reply a golden wash tub fell from above and landed squarely on Kurumu's head, forcing the succubus to release Christian. "Yeah right you obnoxious cow!" Yukari cried as she latched on to Christian who sighed in exasperation. "Christian and I would make a much better team!" she declared.

Moka on the other hand frowned and said, "I think it would be best if we all worked together on this." She then proceeded to try and pry Yukari off their friend. Of course it was at that moment Kurumu recovered and returned to glomping Christian in order to get him to notice her.

To the side, Zack watched the little display with a smile on his face, amused by his friend's girl problems. Gin was just glaring at Christian with intense jealousy. '_Why does this always happen to him!' _the werewolf boy screamed in his head.

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After the girls had finally let Christian go, the six split in to three teams of two in order to look for clues. The Newspaper Club members agreed it would be faster to split up but didn't want any of the girls to be on their own in case they were kidnapped by the same person who had taken the other girls. The teams were, finally, decided as; Christian and Moka, Zack and Yukari and Kurumu and Gin. Of course Yukari and Kurumu were both disappointed they didn't get to go with Christian but unfortunately Moka had beaten them at rock-paper-scissors so there wasn't a lot they could do.

Gin had been quite happy with the pairings, especially since he was with a beautiful girl. However his attitude was quickly changed when Christian and Zack walked over to him and threatened to hurt him if he did anything to upset Kurumu, quickly making the werewolf's good mood dissipate as he promised to be on his best behaviour.

After that; Zack, Yukari, Kurumu and Gin left the club room in order to go and ask questions about the missing girls. Moka had made her way to leave when she turned to see that Christian was still looking at the folder Gin had brought. Curiously, Moka wandered over to her friend's side to see him looking intently at the information on the pages.

"It doesn't make sense." Christian muttered to himself, only just loud enough for Moka to hear.

"What?" she asked curiously.

"According to this, these girls have no connections between them." Christian explained, not taking his eyes off the folder. "They aren't in the same class as one another, they're not in the same year, and they're not in the same clubs. They even have different styles of hair and have different blood types. There isn't one connection between them." He listed off, his eyes now closed in thought.

"Maybe there isn't a connection between them." Moka suggested. "Maybe the kidnapper took them just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"I doubt that." Christian told her pointing to a section of dates. "Look at the dates they went missing."

Moka narrowed her eyes to in order to look at what Christian had pointed out. "There all within a few days of one another." She said.

"Yeah, it's way too organised." Christian told her. "There is no way this could be random."

"But what does that mean?"

"I don't know." Christian replied, reaching for the Omnitrix. "But I know someone who will be able to put the pieces together." He said with a smirk as he activated the Omnitrix, selected a hero and slammed down on the core. Moka covered her eyes as Christian was bathed in emerald light. Once it had faded, the pinkette uncovered her eyes to see that her friend had disappeared.

"Chris?" She called out, thinking he may have turned into Big Chill. "Where are you?"

"Down here!" A high but slightly quiet voice responded from below her.

Moka looked down but couldn't see anything. "Where!?" she called again, cocking her brow in confusion.

"Here!" The voice replied. Suddenly, much to Moka's surprise, a small creature jumped up on to the table and waved at her. The creature was a grey skinned, frog-like, bipedal alien that was only, what Moka suspected, four inches tall with large green eyes, which had rectangular pupils. The creature wore a green jumpsuit with a black belt. It wore black, fingerless gloves with a green rectangle on the back. Moka was also able to see the Omnitrix symbol on the creatures back.

"Christian?" Moka questioned, underwhelmed by the alien in front of her.

"Actually, in this form, I go by the name Grey Matter." The frog like alien explained. "I'm a Galvan, a member of the smartest beings in the universe."

"Wow!" Moka remarked. "So… why did you turn in to him?"

Before he answered, Grey Matter wandered across the table over to the open folder and looked at it. "Grey Matter tends to read between the lines and is able to make connections that normal people can't." The small alien explained. "Which means that I should be able to make this easier to solve." He said as he continued to read the information present on the pieces of paper in front of him. However, a frown soon appeared on the Galvan's face. "Although, I'm not getting much from this." Grey Matter admitted sadly. "As I said before, there are little to none similarities between these girls. As much as I hate to admit it, especially considering my intellect is vastly superior to his right now, Gin was right. The only connection I can see is that these girls were all attractive."

Moka looked down in disappointment, sad that they had been unable to discover anything. "Are you sure that's everything?" She asked, picking up the folder herself to take a look. "Are you sure there isn't something you missed?"

Grey Matter chuckled slightly as he crossed his small arms and closed his eyes. "Now Moka, I know that you are trying to help, but if Grey Matter couldn't find a connection then-"

"Hey! All the girls were put in detention for skipping class!" Moka cried.

Grey Matter's jaw dropped as he heard Moka say those words. "What!?" he shouted, jumping up and snatching the file back from Moka and looked at what the vampire had looked at. "This wasn't in here before!"

"The pages were stuck together." Moka told the alien, said to be the smartest species in the universe, with a smug grin. "You really didn't notice?"

"I have no comment." Grey Matter replied, turning away with the folder so Moka couldn't see his embarrassed expression. After examining the newly discovered page, the small alien replied, "You're right, all the girls missed several of their lessons prior to their disappearances."

"The question is though, what were they doing when they weren't in lessons?" Moka asked.

The vampire and small alien shared a look before they decided to go and take a look around themselves. Hopefully they would be able to find some clue as to the girl's locations.

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Moka and Christian spent the rest of the day going around the campus trying to find anything that could help them with their investigation. They tried going to the main school office to see if they could learn anything else about the girl's absences from their classes. Unfortunately it was closed for the weekend and wouldn't be open again until the next day.

The pair also tried to interview students who were walking around and enjoying their weekend. There were a few people willing to talk to them, especially now that some of the students had a little sympathy for Christian, however the vast majority of students refused to talk to him because they still hated his guts.

Anyway, from the information they did get, Moka and Christian learned that the girls cut class often so that they could go and hang out in another lesson. They had no idea which one though. The information was useful as it gave Christian and Moka an idea of what the girls had been doing when they had ditched their classes. Unfortunately, that still left the issue of where they had gone.

When they returned to the club, they found that their friends had already returned from their searches. It was then that the six teens decided to sit down and share the information they had gathered. Apparently, Zack and Yukari had gone to where one of the girl's had been last seen. Unfortunately they had been unable to find anything of any significance that could tell them where she had gone. Kurumu and Gin had planned to search the girls' dorm rooms to see if they had left anything behind that could have given them a hint as to what the girls had been doing prior to their disappearance. But they had been unable to do that as they weren't allowed to enter the rooms without either a key or the permission of a teacher so they had to wait until Monday to follow that possible lead.

After they had finished talking, Christian and Moka told the rest of the group about what they had learned. Needless to say the others were surprised. They also laughed when they found Christian hadn't considered the pages of the folder were stuck together. Once everyone had shared what they had discovered/done, the six ended the meeting and decided to come back to it the next day at the club meeting.

Zack had quickly left the club, claiming he had something to do. Kurumu and Yukari also left quickly, the former kidnapping the latter in order to get some help with her homework. Gin…well he had disappeared as soon as the club members had looked away from him, using his speed to leave faster than the eye could see. This left Moka and Christian alone in the club room. After a quick exchange of words, the two quickly decided to walk back to the dorms together.

As the two left the school, Moka couldn't help but keep glancing towards Christian. He had been through so much ever since he was a child. It was so hard to lose the people you cared about, especially if they were your parents. Moka could relate to him. Her mother had gone missing several years ago without a trace. Moka couldn't remember what had happened to her. The only clue she had was the Rosario around her neck. But Moka knew the difference between her and Christian; her mother was only missing, she still had hope she would see her again. Christian already knew his parents were dead. He would never see them again. The thought filled Moka with sadness but it only motivated her to make his birthday perfect. Although to do that, they needed to catch the kidnapper. Moka was now focused on finding the culprit, but first she needed to find out something from Christian; what he wanted for his birthday. It would be difficult, especially since Moka now knew Christian didn't celebrate his birthday, but she was determined to succeed.

Deciding now was a better time than never, Moka prepared herself for the conversation she was about to have as if she wasn't careful, she could really mess up her relationship with Christian. Choosing her words carefully, she said, "It's amazing how quickly the year has gone, isn't it?"

Christian, surprised by the sudden comment, cocked his eyebrow. "Yeah, I guess." He replied. "It's almost summer break isn't it?" He wasn't used to the Japanese school year. In America, the summer meant the end of the year. In Japan, the summer break came first at the beginning of the year.

"That's right, I'm looking forward to it." Moka replied, going slightly off topic. Moka mocked a gasp as she pretended to remember something. "Oh yeah, Christian I forgot to ask you!"

"What?" Christian asked, once again looking towards Moka who was smiling a little too sweetly at him.

"I was wondering about your interests." Moka explained.

Once again, Christian's eyebrow rose with curiosity. "I've already told you haven't I? Why would you ask again?"

"I just wanted to know more about you." Moka justified. "I realised that we've known each other for a few months but I barely know anything about you." She continued to explain, telling a half lie. "I want to know what makes you Christian Hawke."

Christian questionably looked at Moka for a moment before he smiled. "Fine, but in return I want to know a little more about you." He replied.

"I think that's fair." Moka replied, happy that Christian was complying with her. "I suppose we should take it in turns then." She suggested.

"Ladies first." Christian returned with a smirk.

"Why should I go first?" Moka asked, laughing slightly.

"It was your idea." Christian stated.

"Fine." Moka submitted. "What do you want to know?"

"Let's see…" Christian began, mockingly placing his hand under his chin whilst tapping it with his thumb. "I would like to know…where you got your Rosario from." He finally decided.

Moka's eyes widened, she hadn't expected him to ask her that. "It was a gift…from my mother." Moka explained, a sly trickle of sadness present in her voice. Christian picked up on it and decided not to dive too deep in to the subject, sensing it was sensitive. "That's cool." He replied, giving his friend a reassuring smile. "What do you want to ask me?"

Moka, grateful for Christian changing the subject, returned her friends smile with a small one of her own. "Okay, what is your main interest at the moment?" Moka smiled at her cunningness. Christian would tell her what he liked and then she would be able to find him a suitable present. It was a smart plan…until Christian ruined it.

"I guess I like riding motorbikes." Christian told her, causing the pinkette to frown, she couldn't think of anything she could get Christian related to motorbikes. "I actually have one already, I'm just not allowed to ride it until I turn sixteen." Christian continued to explain looking off in to the distance, meaning he had missed Moka's annoyed expression. "I've wanted to ride that thing for a long time. A friend of mine built it as a birthday present last year"

Moka frown was quickly changed into a look of interest. She had no idea Christian owned a motorcycle. Perhaps when he could finally drive, he could take her for a ride? Moka quickly realised what she had just thought and flushed furiously. _'Why was I thinking about that just now?!' _she mentally screamed at herself.

"My turn." Christian stated, breaking Moka's chain of thought. "What was your favourite thing to do as a kid?"

Moka giggled at the childish question before she answered, "Well before I had my powers sealed, I would always fight with my younger sister, Kokoa."

"You have a sister?" Christian responded.

"Yeah, three of them actually." Moka told him with a smile. "I'm the third oldest of the four."

"It's hard to imagine three other people as strong as you, Moka." Christian replied, trying to imagine what Moka's sisters looked like. "Why did you fight with your sister?"

Moka laughed nervously as she tried to find the correct words to describe why she fought her sister. "I guess…it was something of a pride thing. My sister would challenge me, I would accept and then beat her." She finally managed to explain.

"You won every time?"

"Yeah, I did. I honestly feel bad for Kokoa. She always wanted to beat me." Moka replied, sounding slightly sympathetic as she thought about her sister. Moka looked forward and realised they were already at the dorms. She knew she had enough time to ask one more question, but she had to ask it quickly. "Okay, last question." She said earning Christian's full attention. "If you could have someone give you anything in the world, what would it be?" She asked, completely forgetting subtlety.

Christian looked at his vampire friend strangely for a few moments, slightly suspicious of the question. Luckily for Moka, he decided to look past it. "I honestly don't know." Christian replied, only half lying. He would have liked the chance to ask Moka on a date. Unfortunately, Christian didn't believe Moka return the feelings he had towards her so he decided not to. "I'm happy with what I have at the moment." He told her.

"Come on!" Moka pushed, desperate to find out what her friend wanted. "Surely there's something?"

"Not really." Christian replied, making Moka sweat drop in annoyance. "I would be happy with anything someone gave me, as long as it was thought out and from the heart."

Moka sighed, exasperated that Christian was making things hard for her. "I guess that's fair." She replied, slightly annoyed she hadn't gotten a clear answer. The pair continued to walk until they came to the half way point between the dorms. Giving each quick farewell, the two teens separated way and head towards their respective dorms.

As soon as she had entered her room, Moka flopped on to her bed; her thoughts weighing heavily on her mind. Christian hadn't exactly helped on the present front and now she was back to step one. As if Moka didn't have enough to deal with, her Rosario began to glow.

"**Well that was pointless wasn't it?" **Inner Moka stated. **"Didn't I tell you in the first place just to give him something from the heart?"**

Moka simply nodded in response. "Yes, you did." She admitted. Slowly, the pinkette rose from her bed and looked down towards the glowing Rosario. "How did you even know what Christian said?" She asked curiously.

"**I'm with you at all times in the day, stupid." **Inner Moka explained, a hint of annoyance in her voice. **"Just because I'm not talking to you doesn't mean I'm not active." **she reprimanded.

"Right…" Moka sighed, confused by her inner self's mental link with her.

"**So then…now what do you plan to give the human for his birthday?" **Inner Moka asked, adding to Outer Moka's troubles.

"I don't know!" Outer Moka moaned, once again falling back on to her bed in frustration. "He doesn't seem to want anything."

Inner Moka remained silent for but a moment before she replied. **"Did you ever consider that perhaps you're over thinking this?"**

"What do you mean?" Outer Moka asked, still lying down on the bed.

"**Hawke told you himself." **Inner Moka stated. **"He doesn't care what someone gives him. It just has to be from their heart." **As Outer Moka listened to her Inner self, she began to understand what her vampire side was saying. Christian didn't care about material possessions, he would be happy just to know that his friends had thought of him. She felt like a weight had been removed from her shoulders knowing her friend would be happy no matter what she gave him. Despite that, she still wanted it to be special. It was at that moment Inner Moka decided to speak up again.

"**I can't believe you are still thinking about this!" **She reprimanded. **"If you're seriously still having trouble with this then just make him something!"**

Outer Moka's eyes widened at her Inner self's small rant. Slowly, a wide smile spread across her face. "That's a brilliant idea, Inner me!" She exclaimed happily, getting up and walking over to her desk. The girl racked her mind as she began to come up with ideas. "Now what to do?" Outer Moka said to herself, tapping her fingers on the desks wooden top. "Any ideas?" she asked the Rosario hopefully.

"**I've had enough of this foolishness." **Inner Moka replied in exasperation. **"You're the one giving him the gift, you deal with this. It's not my problem."**

The Rosario's glow died meaning Inner Moka's consciousness had gone back to being dormant.

"Thanks for the help." Moka said absently as she continued to ponder what to make. Moka continued to brainstorm for a few more minutes before giving up. Nothing she could think of seemed personal enough.

Moka sunk on to her bed in slight despair. "What am I going to do?" She wondered, looking to the side. It was then that she saw the spine of one of her text books and got a brilliant idea. Quickly grabbing the book, Moka dashed from the room; hoping to catch a specific person before they went home for the day.

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That night, Zack sat alone at the top of the dorm rooms, pondering his future actions. "What should I do?" He asked himself.

"What are you doing up here for?" A voice asked from behind him. Zack didn't even have to turn to realise it was Christian standing behind him.

"Just thinking about some stuff." Zack replied, acting the fool. "Why did you come up here?"

"I come up here sometimes to think." Christian responded, looking up at the night sky. "Looking at the stars helps to clear my mind." He explained. "Although, it is rather hard to see them in the monster world."

Zack looked up at the sky and sighed contently. "Yeah, I guess so."

Looking at his friend, Christian could tell there was something wrong. Despite only knowing him for a few weeks, Zack had never been…well, depressed. "What's wrong Zack?" He finally asked. "You've been out of it all day."

Zack remained silent for a few moments before he decided to get up from where he was seated. Tilting his head upwards before he spoke. "As I told you earlier Bro, you don't need to worry about me. I just happen to have a lot on my mind."

Christian looked doubtfully at his friend, not believing his words. However, sensing that the situation didn't need his input, he decided to stop prying. "If that's what you want." He yielded, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just remember I'm here to talk to if you need me."

Zack smirked at that. "Cheers Bro but honestly, I'm fine."

After a few more moments of silence, Christian walked over to join his friend so that they were side by side. The two remained silent for a few more moments before Christian decided to break it. "What do you think about this kidnapper situation?" he asked.

"I don't like it." Zack replied, frowning. "These girls have been missing for ages and there has been no sign of them since. If the girls are still on the campus, someone should have found them by now."

"It doesn't make any sense." Christian agreed. "How can these girls just disappear without a trace? Someone must have seen them."

"I agree, it all seems too suspicious."

"Until we catch whoever been taking these girls, we need to make sure Moka, Kurumu and Yukari remain with one of us at all times." Christian said, a very serious look in his eyes. "I won't allow anyone to hurt our friends, I will gladly die before I allow that to happen."

A sly grin spread across Zack's face as he thought of a way to tease Christian. "I completely agree. Speaking of the girls, which one of them do you like the most?"

Christian's eyes went wide at Zack's words. He began to cough on a non-existent object. "Wh-what do you mean?! I like all the girls as friends! Why would you think otherwise?" He squeaked.

"Really…?" Zack asked childishly. "Or has a certain vampire girl caught your eye?"

"Mo-Moka has nothing to do with this." Christian stammered. "Yes she's very beautiful and the kindest person I've ever met…" Christian said, stopping his rambling when he realised he was pretty much proving Zack right. The teen in question looked at his friend with a playful smirk, knowing he had won. After a few more moments of the pair saying nothing, Christian finally submitted, placing a hand on his forehead for a mere moment before removing it and started ranting. "Fine. I like her. You happy now?"

"Admitting it is the first step."

"Shut up." Christian sighed before turning to leave. "I'm going to go and get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Try not to get lost thinking about Moka!" Zack called after him.

"I swear I will not hesitate go Rath on you if you don't shut up!" Christian shouted angrily.

"Yeah right." Zack responded, holding back his laughter. After Christian has left, Zack once again became serious and looked back towards the sky, his thoughts preoccupied with a certain purple haired woman who had appeared before him on this very roof a few days before and the proposition she had made him. "What should I do?" He asked himself.

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**Monday**

The next day, Christian pretty much had the same morning he normally did. He met Moka at the dorm entrance, she drank some of his blood without his permission, Kurumu showed up and near suffocated him, Yukari then dropped a wash tub on the succubus's head which freed Christian and allowed him to breathe, Kurumu retaliated to the young witch by getting into a pointless fight with her, Moka attempted to break it up and just ended up getting involved instead, finally, Zack showed up and greeted Christian. However, instead of going on ahead like they normally did, the two boys waited for their friends to finish fighting so they could walk to school together.

The school day had passed by quite quickly with no excitement whatsoever. It was the last period and Christian, Moka and Kurumu were in their regularly scheduled art class with one of the most popular teachers at Yokai Academy, Hitomi Ishigami. She may have been popular with the boys due to her brilliant good looks, but she was even more popular with the female populace of the school. Christian had heard that there was even a fan club completely dedicated to her consisting of only girls.

Ms. Ishigami was slim and wore a red tube top which snuggled comfortably against her curvy figure. She sported a pair of tight black jeans which accented her hips. She wore a long, white, trench coat which was splattered with paint stains from her time in the art room. Her long blonde hair was braided and done up in a red bandana that Ms. Ishigami was famous for.

Once everyone was seated in front of their art stands, Ms. Ishigami made an announcement. "Okay class, today we are going to start on a new project. It will be called 'What is most important to me'. You shall be painting what you consider to be closest to your heart. If you do that, anything you create shall be art."

Almost automatically, the students got to work. Grabbing their canvases and sketching utensils, they began sketching the outlines of their paintings. Christian was already sketching the outlines of six people on his canvas. He was planning to draw his friends from the Newspaper Club as at this point in time they meant everything to him. If it was of a good enough quality, they could hang it up in the club room.

"And what exactly are you drawing Kurumu?" Ms. Ishigami's voice came from Christian's side causing the Plumber to look and see his teacher standing over the bluenette, a frown on her face.

"It's me and Christian, Miss." Kurumu replied, happily looking at her sketch which currently consisted of two badly drawn stick figures with smiley faces. Christian leaned over to notice that one of the stick figures had two big circles just at the top of its body. It didn't take a genius to figure out who that person was.

Sighing, Christian returned to his own drawing, carefully sketching his friends. He had Zack standing on the right, his usual smile plastering his face as he gave a peace sign. Gin was on the other side, also smiling out at the viewer. Christian had drawn him with a camera in his hands as photography was the werewolf's favourite hobby, even if it did get him in to trouble. He had drawn himself at the centre of the picture, smiling happily with his hands in his pockets. Kurumu was drawn to his left, winking with a hand on her hip. Yukari was in between Christian and Kurumu, waving out at the person on the other side of the campus. She held her wand in her other hand and looked ready to cast a spell. Christian drew Moka last; the vampire girl was directly to the right of the sketched Christian. She was drawn with her hands behind her back, a cheerful and kind look on her face. For some reason, it made Christian feel happy for some reason to see all his friends cheerful together. However, he couldn't help but feel there was someone missing from the picture. Inner Moka was technically the last member of the club and she was their friend too, even if she didn't admit it. Christian was about to sketch her in just above Outer Moka before he heard a voice from behind him.

"That's a nice scene." Christian was startled to find Ms. Ishigami standing over him, admiring his work. "That's the Newspaper Club, correct?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am." The Plumber replied. "My friends mean everything to me. I figured they would appreciate this."

"I'm sure they will." Ms. Ishigami responded, smiling warmly. The teacher then walked away from Christian and left him to his work.

Once Christian had finished his sketch, he moved to paint it. Using the smallest strokes, Christian began painting the background of the clubroom first. Filling in the white spaces with the colours he thought appropriate. The Plumber had finished a quarter of the background when he looked up to notice something strange. Standing amidst the other students was a female with a strange hairstyle that Christian didn't recognise. That was understandable considering Christian didn't really know a lot of the people in his class; especially since about half of them still hated his guts. However, this girl was strange as she was wearing her gym uniform. The girl was talking with Ms. Ishigami, she had a very excited look on her face. Christian watched as the unfamiliar girl and teacher had finished their conversation before the former ran out of the classroom.

'_Probably just came to deliver a message.'_ Christian told himself, although his gut said otherwise. Looking to his right, he noticed Moka was now talking to Ms. Ishigami about her work. '_I wonder what she's painting.' _Christian thought absently as he continued to work.

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Once the bell for the end of the lesson had finally sounded; Christian, Moka and Kurumu headed to the clubroom only to discover that it had been cancelled for the day due to unforeseen events. Slightly disheartened, the three walked back to the dorms. They met up with Zack and Yukari along the way and after telling them about the club meeting cancelation.

As the five walked back to the dorms together, they chatted about the day and also shared any thoughts they had on the disappearances. Needless to say they still hadn't thought of anything. Once back at the dorms; Moka, Kurumu and Yukari headed back to their rooms whilst Zack and Christian went back to theirs.

The boys split up on the stairs as they lived on different floors. When Christian turned the key to his door he automatically noticed that he needed to take out the rubbish. His bin was filled to the brim with papers that consisted of failed attempts at homework as well as several drawings of some of his aliens. Sighing, Christian quickly changed his school clothes into his usual blue jeans and black jacket and headed out with the bin in order to empty it into the incinerator.

As Christian headed back out of the dorms, he couldn't help but think about his situation at the school. Just a two months ago he'd come to this school on a peaceful mission to unite humans and monsters and so far he seemed to have been in more fights than diplomatic situations. What he first needed to do was establish a good relationship with the students at the school in order to try and show them that humans weren't as bad as they were made out to be. Of course that was a lot harder now considering three quarters of the student body hated him. He was back in the good light with some of the students due to him catching Gin but that was still only a few people.

Christian was so caught up in his thoughts that he failed to notice someone in front of him. Christian walked straight into the back of the person, causing him to bump them with the bin. "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Christian said, coming to his senses. "Are you- Moka!?" As Christian had said, standing in front of him was the pinkette, holding a bin herself. "What are you doing out here on your own?!" He shouted. "I thought we told you guys to be careful. Especially since that kidnapper is still out there."

Moka, looking a little embarrassed, gave him a small smile. "I know, I'm sorry." She apologised. It's just that I didn't think it would be that bad if I was only taking out the trash." Inside the Rosario, Inner Moka was sighing in exasperation at her Outer Self's naivety. Luckily, Christian had come along.

"Well I guess it's a good thing I came a long then. We can go together." Christian said with a small smile. Moka responded with one of her own as the two continued to walk towards the incinerator. However, Christian could sense a certain unease coming from his friend. "Moka, is there something wrong?" He asked.

"What?! No of course not!" Moka answered a little too hastily, giving her away instantly. After a rather sceptical look from Christian, Moka finally gave in. "You see…I'm going to be out of the club for the next few days." She began to explain.

"Why?" Christian asked curiously.

"I-I'm going to be modelling for Ms. Ishigami." Moka admitted, going slightly red as she told her friend a half truth. "S-she asked me to do it."

"That's…good." Christian replied slowly. "When do you finish?"

"On Sunday…" Moka said with a sad tone. "But I have Friday off." She slightly perking up. "Maybe we could hang out then?"

Christian's expression turned into one of sadness as he realised what day that was. "I'm sorry Moka but I won't be able to hang out on Friday." He said regretfully.

"What!? Why?!" Moka cried. It was his birthday and she had planned something for it.

"It's just…" Christian began uneasily. "There's something I need to do on that day…alone."

Moka looked at Christian with wide, sad eyes. She knew that his birthday was sad for him but did he really want to be on his own all day? "What about school?" she asked, trying to find sometime during Friday she could be with him.

"…Maybe…" Christian replied. "But I warn you, I may be a bit of a buzzkill."

Moka continued to gaze at her friend before turning her head back towards the way they were walking. An awkward silence fell between the two as they continued walking. After a few more minutes they found themselves at the incinerator, however they weren't the only ones there. Standing in front of the machine was a figure dressed in a black, hooded cloak that covered all of their features.

Curiously, Moka and Christian watched as figure opened the incinerator and took out something from the inside of their cloak. Finding it all too suspicious, Christian stepped out into the open and called out to the figure. "Hey! What are you doing?!"

The sudden shout startled the figure, causing them to drop what they had been holding and turn to face Christian and Moka. The hood of the cloak obscured the face of the figure in darkness meaning the pair couldn't see the figure's face, however they could clearly see what they had dropped. A collection of seven girl school uniforms.

Putting the two together, Christian's expression turned into one of anger as he realised that he was in the presence of the kidnapper. "It's you!" He shouted angrily. "You're the one who's been kidnapping those girls!"

The kidnapper didn't respond. They seemed to be weighing their options. Suddenly, in one swift motion, the kidnapper swooped down and picked up the uniforms they had dropped and threw them into the incinerator. The kidnapper then turned and began running off into the woods.

Running after the retreating kidnapper, Christian called back, "Moka, go and get a teacher! I'm going after this guy!" Christian failed to hear his friends reply as he was already too far away.

The figure still in his sights, Christian reached down and activated the Omnitrix. Not even looking at the alien he had selected, Christian slammed down on the core and was engulfed in a bright light. When the light had faded, he was replaced with a hulking, broad-shouldered alien that was covered in natural, yellow armoured plates which shielded its back, shoulders and arms. Its skin was mostly white with black bits on its upper half. The alien possessed four claws on both of its hands. The Omnitrix symbol was on its chest.

"Cannonbolt?" the alien remarked, slightly surprised as he came to a stop. Cannonbolt looked up to see the figure still getting away, completely oblivious to the newly transformed alien behind them. Smirking, the alien stated, "That'll work."

The clumsy bipedal alien suddenly curled itself into a ball, his yellow armour protecting him, and began rolling forward with a burst of speed, quickly catching up with the cloaked figure.

The kidnapper took a quick glance behind only to see the giant cannonball rolling towards them. Stopping and turning to face the alien, the kidnapper waited until the last possible moment until Cannonbolt was almost on top of them. With a burst of strength, the kidnapper jumped over alien wrecking ball, twisting in the air before landing on the other side safely while causing the alien to slam into a tree. However, the kidnapper didn't expect Cannonbolt to bounce off the tree and come straight back at them at a greater speed.

Cannonbolt smashed straight into the kidnapper, sending them flying into a nearby tree and promptly knocked them out. Cannonbolt rolled over to the cloaked figure and unfurled into his bipedal form. Pressing the Omnitrix symbol on his chest, Cannonbolt was quickly replaced with Kickin Hawk.

Not bothering to call out his name, the hawk like alien knelt down and slowly used his talons to pull back the hood that covered the kidnappers face; still fully prepared to fight if the kidnapper was faking their condition. When the cloak was finally lowered, Kickin Hawk was surprised to find himself looking at a completely unfamiliar girl who looked around his age. She had long, vibrant red hair that was done up into a ponytail at the back. She was quite pretty and had a collection of freckles on her cheeks. Kickin Hawk eyed the girl curiously and noticed something strange on the girl's neck; a small puncture wound where it looked like the girl had been injected with something.

As Kickin Hawk began to wonder what could have caused it, the red head began to come to. Groaning as she regained consciousness, she warily opened her eyes revealing them to be a chocolate brown. "Uhh… what hit me?" She murmured, moving one of her hands to support her head.

"That would be me." Kickin Hawk said, gaining the girls attention.

"AHHH!" She screamed, startled by the alien in front of her.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Kickin Hawk started, waving his talons trying to calm the girl down unsuccessfully. "Stop yelling for a second! I'm friendly!"

"Wa-wait, you're the Gaijin aren't you?" the girl asked, looking slightly worried.

Kickin Hawk nodded, tapping the symbol on his chest and reverting back to Christian. "Yes, although I do have a name other than Gaijin." He told her.

"Please, don't hurt me!" The girl cried fearfully; trying to scurry away from Christian but found herself unable to because she was up against the tree.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." Christian responded soothingly, smiling politely. "I actually have a few questions if you don't mind me asking." It was clear this girl had no idea about what she had done, the puncture wound on her neck gave away that she had been drugged into doing what she had done. However she may still remember what happened. "Do you have any idea how you got here?" The girl looked at Christian apprehensively for a few moments before finally deciding that it was safe to talk to the boy in front of her.

"I-I don't know…" The girl replied slowly, clutching her head as she struggled to remember. "The last thing I remember is walking down one of the school corridors to…uh…a meeting with one of the teachers." The girl then began to shake as she continued to recall the events. "Suddenly I felt someone grab me from behind and pull me into one of the other rooms! I didn't see their face; it was too dark. I felt a pain in the side of my neck and, and the next thing I know I'm here."

Christian nodded, taking the new information. This girl was very shook up, he needed to get her to the infirmary. "Okay, what's your name?" He asked.

"Amelia."

"Okay Amelia, I'm going to take you to the infirmary. Is that alright?" Amelia nodded in reply. Nodding back, Christian activated the Omnitrix and transformed into XLR8. Amelia was surprised and slightly scared by the new alien, even more so when he picked her up. However that was soon forgotten as they suddenly shot off at staggering speeds towards the school.

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Once Christian had delivered Amelia to the infirmary, he left to go and find Moka to tell her what had happened. He found her a few minutes later; walking down the halls with a worried expression on her face. Next to her was a teacher Christian didn't recognise.

After Christian had told the teacher what had happened, the teacher went to the infirmary to check on Amelia. Christian and Moka however decided to go and get their bins, which they had left behind at the incinerator. Along the way, the pair decided that it would be best for Christian to walk Moka to and back from her modelling sessions with Ms. Ishigami. Moka wasn't on board with the idea at first for some reason, but with some pushing from Christian (and her Inner self) she reluctantly agreed to Christian's 'offer'. Once they had finally retrieved their bins and thrown away the rubbish inside of them, the pair decided to head back to their dorms. They would tell the rest of the club about what had happened the next day.

That night, Christian found himself unable to sleep. Getting up from his bed, he slightly parted his curtains to look across the way towards the window he knew was Moka's. He couldn't help but feel something bad was going to happen, and soon.

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**Tuesday + Wednesday**

Tuesday had passed by uneventfully. Christian had told the other members of the club what had happened with Amelia in the woods. Sure enough, they had been surprised and decided to double their efforts in order to find the true kidnapper before they could attack anymore students. The only other thing that had happened was that Moka had her first modelling session with Ms. Ishigami. Christian had of coursed walked her to the art room in order to ensure that she was safe while Zack and Gin escorted Yukari and Kurumu home.

When Christian had come back to collect Moka, the vampire girl seemed extremely flustered and refused to answer any of Christian's questions on what she had done.

On Wednesday, the club had decided to use lunch to work as a group to piece together any evidence they had and work on figuring out what motive the kidnapper would have for taking the girls. Unfortunately with so little evidence, they had been unable to come up with any ideas as to why the girls would be taken other than to be used for ransom.

After school, Christian once again walked Moka to the art rooms before going on a short patrol with Zack, using Blitzwolfer as a sniffer dog in order to try and track Amelia's movements before she had been drugged. Their search had led them to a store room on the third floor where they unfortunately found nothing of interest. There had been no sign of any struggle and, even though they hadn't expected to find it, no syringe. Blitzwolfer couldn't even pick up the scent of Amelia or the kidnapper as it seemed the room had been sprayed with aerosol. Giving up for the day, Zack returned to the dorms whilst Christian went to pick up Moka.

Once again the vampire girl seemed extremely flustered when she left the art room and refused to talk about the events of the session. Christian could only assume that Ms. Ishigami had been making Moka do a weird kind of modelling.

Once they had returned to the dorms, Christian had returned to his dorm whilst Moka returned to hers. Inside the safety of her own dorm room, Moka sighed as she sat down on her bed. The vampire looked to her left and stared at the calendar hung up on the back of her door. There were only two days left until Christian's birthday. Her present was almost finished, it just needed one more session before it would be perfect.

Smiling, Moka began to get herself some dinner, thoughts of her Omnitrix wielding friend filling her mind.

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**Thursday**

The next morning Christian woke up to the normal morning greeting; Moka drinking his blood, Kurumu near suffocating him, Yukari saving his life with a golden wash tub, the girls getting into a fight and finally Zack turning up, leaving it for them to watch the girls fight for a minute before heading to school.

In class, Christian barely listened to what the teachers were saying, his thoughts preoccupied with how to catch the kidnapper. He only noticed the lesson has ended when Moka and Kurumu had poked him in the back. This sequence repeated itself throughout the day until lunch when there was a club meeting.

Once everyone had gathered together, the group began working on solving the case of the kidnappings when something surprising happened. Out of the blue, there was a knock on the club room door. Zack was the one to answer it only to discover a nervous red haired girl on the other side. "Bro, I think someone's here to see you." Zack said as he showed the girl in.

Christian looked up to see Amelia looking extremely tense. "Amelia, is there something wrong?" He asked, getting up and walking over to the girl.

Amelia's eyes darted around the room as she looked at the rest of the club. "I-is it okay i-if I talk to you please?" The red head asked timidly.

Sensing that what Amelia had to say was important, Christian nodded and followed the red head out the room; the eyes of his club mates fixed on him as he left the room.

In the corridor, Amelia leaned up against the wall and looked at Christian with big eyes. She seemed to be scared of what she wanted to say. "I-I've been remembering…" She started slowly.

"That's good." Christian replied, taking it slow as he could see Amelia was scared. "What did you remember?"

"I remember a voice telling me to be calm." Amelia told the Omnitrix bearer. "It was one I recognised too." Amelia continued, her eyes showing the intense amount of fear they held.

Knowing that this meant Amelia knew the identity of the kidnapper, Christian decided to toss subtlety out the window. "Who was it, Amelia?" Christian asked. "If you tell me, I can catch this guy and hopefully find the girls they've taken."

Amelia looked at Christian with teary eyes before she continued. "I-I can't be sure, but I believe the voice sounded like…Ms. Ishigami."

Christian's eyes widened in shock when he heard the name. "What?"

"I-I think the person who drugged me…was Ms. Ishigami." Amelia repeated.

Christian remained still for a few more moments before he spoke again. "Have you told a teacher yet?" He asked, knowing they may be able to help.

"N-no." Amelia replied. "I don't have any proof so I don't think they would believe me."

Christian nodded, understanding the situation. "Okay, Amelia listen closely. I want you to go and find the closest teacher and tell them what you told me. Tell them to go to the art room."

Amelia looked at Christian with wide eyes. "What are you going to do?"

The human boy sent the girl a smirk before turning around and heading back to his club. "Get evidence."

Amelia watched Christian disappear into his clubroom before turning and running to find any of the teachers in the hopes they could help her.

Inside the Newspaper Club, Christian had just re-entered to find his friends all sitting around the table looking at him curiously.

"What was that about Chris?" Yukari asked.

"That was a about a possible lead." Christian said simply, surprising his friends.

"What!?" They all shouted.

"But I can't be sure so I'm going to go and check it out on my own." Christian continued to explain, turning to once again leave the room. However, just before he exited, he turned to look at Moka. "By the way Moka, I think it may be wise to stay away from the art rooms for now."

Before anyone could ask him what he meant, Christian had already left. The five remaining members of the Newspaper Club looked at each dubiously before they began discussing what Christian's lead might be. However, a certain pinkette at the table couldn't escape the bad feeling she had that something was going to happen to Christian.

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Christian had made his way to the art room on the other side of the school. Currently he was hiding behind one of the large trees that was close to the classroom. He had been waiting for Ms. Ishigami to leave so that he could have a snoop. Unfortunately, the art teacher seemed to have no intention of leaving. Sighing in annoyance, Christian was about to see if there was another way to get in when the door to the classroom swung open to reveal the art teacher.

Ms. Ishigami walked out and locked the door behind her. She then proceeded to walk off towards the school, presumably to get lunch. Christian watched her walk away silently, however as he watched he had moved his leg and stepped on a fallen branch of a tree, producing a snapping sound. As Christian pressed himself against the tree so that he wouldn't be seen, Ms. Ishigami whirled around, a terrifying look in her eyes as she scanned the area for an intruder. From where he was, Ms. Ishigami was unable to see Christian but he could see her. He had seen the expression on her face and knew she was hiding something. Scarily, he could have sworn he had seen her hair move.

After a moment of tense silence, Ms. Ishigami finally turned around and continued her on way towards the school. Only once she had disappeared from his sight did the Plumber come out from his hiding spot. Making his way over to the locked door, Christian activated the Omnitrix and scrolled through the selections, looking for a certain ice alien. "Big Chill will make this easy." Christian said to himself as he slammed down on the dial. Once the normal green light had faded Christian was revealed to be an alien that most definitely was not Big Chill. The alien was a large, silicon based humanoid whose body was composed of pale green crystals. On his back were two crystal like shards that stuck outwards. He wore a black uniform that exposed his arms and had a single green stripe running down it. The alien wore a green and white belt around its waist which was where the Omnitrix symbol was present.

"Diamondhead?" The new alien asked, confused. "I wanted Big Chill!" Sighing, Diamondhead guessed he had accidently selected the wrong hologram when he had been selecting. He had no idea how though.

Deciding to use what he had been given, Diamondhead moved his finger towards the lock of the door and morphed his the tip of one of his fingers in to a key and inserted into the lock. Diamondhead morphed his finger once more inside the lock so the key like finger would turn. Opening the door with a click, Diamondhead walked inside, having to bend down slightly so the crystals on his back would fit.

After closing the door, Diamondhead took a look around the classroom. It was empty except from the desks and art supplies and, unlike when Christian had been in there earlier that week, seemed completely uninviting. Diamondhead began to take a look around, anxious to get out of the art room before Ms. Ishigami retuned. Suddenly, the crystal like alien heard something which caused him to become very alarmed. He had heard the sound of a girl weeping. He quickly tracked the sound to a room where Ms. Ishigami kept art supplies. Now that he was closer to the door, Diamondhead could definitely make out the sounds of sobbing coming from the other side. Concerned, Diamondhead attempted to open the door to find it was locked. Not even bothering to unlock this one, the crystalline alien broke the door down with a swift kick.

Stepping inside, Diamondhead was shocked to see several statues. Each one depicted a girl completely naked and striking a pose you would normally see a super model do at art shows. However, the faces of the statues all depicted fear, anger, pain and most importantly; a sense of betrayal. The strangest thing was that was that the statues were crying. Actual tears descended like rivers from the eyes of the statues. What's more, Diamondhead actually found he recognised the girls. Each one was a match for the girls who had disappeared. However, there was one statue that had not been in the folder and that was one that depicted a girl with a strange hairstyle. Diamondhead instantly recognised her as the girl who had appeared in Ms. Ishigami's lesson on Monday.

Diamondhead gritted his teeth in anger when he realised what Ms. Ishigami had done to these girls. "That bitch is going to pay for this." The alien swore. "And I'm going to make sure of it.

"Hello?!"

Diamondhead was brought out of his anger by the sound of a very familiar voice. The diamond like alien stepped out of the storeroom to see a very shocked Moka.

"Chr-Chris? Is that you?" The vampire asked, startled by the alien in front of her.

"Yeah, it's me." Diamondhead responded. "What are you doing here? I told you not to come here."

Moka looked nervous as she looked at the broken in door behind Diamondhead. "I- I felt something was wrong so I came." Moka explained. "What's in that room?" She asked, moving towards Diamondhead. Moving around the diamond like alien, Moka gasped in shock when she saw the statues in the store room.

"It appears our lovely art teacher has been hoarding a bunch of crying statues." Diamondhead said, anger seeping out of his voice. "And I suspect they haven't always been statues."

Moka looked to Diamondhead, sadness evident in her eyes. "Why would Ms. Ishigami do this?"

"I don't know." Diamondhead answered, his glared intensifying. "But I'm going to find out."

"My, my." A voice said from behind the two teens, freezing them to their cores. The pair whirled around to see Ms. Ishigami standing in the door way. The image of a caring, enthusiastic and loving teacher was shattered instantly by the downright sinister and menacing glare the teacher was sending the teens. "It appears you've found my little collection." The teacher continued, looking at the vampire and alien like they were pieces of meat.

"You!" Diamondhead shouted, moving to stand in front of Moka in order to protect her whilst morphing his right arm in to a blade. "You kidnapped the girls and turned them into statues, didn't you!?"

"I'm going to assume that's you Mr. Hawke." Ms. Ishigami replied calmly, her frown turning into a wide grin; further infuriating the transformed teen. "You are a smart one aren't you? Perhaps too smart."

"Why did you do this Ms. Ishigami?!" Moka asked, clearly distressed. "What was the point?!"

Ishigami began chuckling before she decided to answer. "Why? Well, for art of course!" She proclaimed enthusiastically, walking past the alien and vampire duo towards her 'art'. "It is my belief that beauty should be preserved. In doing this, I am preserving their beauty. I'm doing these ladies a public service by helping them preserve their beautiful youth." Moving over to one of the girls, Ishigami began caressing the petrified girl's stone face. "I was planning to add you, Moka, to my collection. I was planning to add you on the last day of our modelling sessions. You always were flustered after our little sessions. All well, I guess I'll just have to accelerate my plans"

Moka took a step back in fear as Diamondhead moved defensively in front her. "I will die before I let that happen." He, pointing his still morphed arm at Ishigami.

"I guess my course of action is clear then." Ishigami scowled as she turned to face the duo. Suddenly, cracks began to appear in the skin around her eyes and tinged a light green. Her eyes turned yellow and her pupils slitted. The crazed teacher removed her bandana as her hair turned green and transformed in to a mass of hair like snakes. It was clear from her appearance that Ishigami was a medusa, better known as a gorgon. "I'll turn you to stone first and then your little girlfriend!" Ishigami cried as several of her snakes lashed out and bit Diamondhead's arm.

"Christian, no!" Moka cried out in a panic. However, despite the fact Diamondhead had a snake in his arm, he simply smirked.

"I'm already stone you fruit loop!" Diamondhead shouted victoriously as the snake like hairs retracted in pain as their teeth broke. Ishigami barely had any time to look shocked before Diamondhead had grabbed a hold of her and threw her into the art studio before moving to once again defend Moka. "I will never allow you to hurt Moka! So bring your worst Ishigami!"

Ishigami, who was recovering from the sudden attack, scowled at the crystal alien. "That form of yours…is impressive." The gorgon admitted. "However, I know your weakness. You can only remain in monster form for a certain amount of time. And you have been in that form for a while." Ishigami smirked, causing Diamondhead's green eyes to widen. "You only have so much time left."

Realising that she was speaking the truth, Diamondhead knew he needed to end this quickly. Morphing both his hands into blades, Diamondhead made ready to cut down any of the snake like hairs that came to him or Moka.

Diamondhead slashed at Ishigami, trying to lay a hit. Unfortunately, the gorgon was too flexible and agile allowing her to dodge every swipe. Changing tactic, Diamondhead shifted his hands into two clusters of crystals and began shooting small projectiles out at the deranged teacher. In order to block the shards, Ishigami kicked up one of the tables allowing the shards to pierce it but not go through. Moving the table across, Ishigami found herself hammered by a…hammer, that apparently Diamondhead had forged with his right hand.

Stepping forward, Diamondhead prepared himself to finish Ishigami. However, he was stopped by a noise that froze both Moka and the crystalline alien.

The sound of the Omnitrix timing out.

"No! Not now!" Diamondhead cried as the beeping ended and with a flash of emerald, Diamondhead reverted back into Christian. "No!"

The sound of movement alerted Christian and Moka to Ishigami who had fully recovered from Diamondhead's attack. "Times up." She said, a deranged, sinister smile plastering her face. Suddenly, the medusa sent out legions of her snakes that wrapped themselves around parts of Christian and Moka's body, biting them in the progress.

"Ahh!" The pair cried in pair as the snakes sunk their fangs in to their legs.

"You see, when my snakes bite you, they inject you with my venom." Ishigami explained maliciously. "Soon you'll be nothing more than lovely additions to my collection.

Suddenly, Christian felt a strange sensation in his legs. Looking down, the plumber realised his legs were slowly turning to stone. "What the…?"

"Chris! What's happening?!" Moka cried as her body began to turn grey.

"Petrifying, isn't it?" Ishigami quipped, before using her snakes to reposition the pair's bodies. She moved them so that Christian and Moka were stood facing one another, looking each other in the eyes. Christian's right hand was placed on Moka's cheek whilst his left hand was placed around her waist. Moka's were placed on Christian's chest, pressing them together. The two were now so close they were practically kissing. At that moment, Ishigami began to cackle. "This…shall be my greatest masterpiece!" The teacher cried, mesmerised by the scene in front of her. "Two lovers… wrapped in each other's arms for all of eternity, never allowed to enjoy the feeling of each other's lips. A truly tragic yet artistic moment to capture."

"You're insane!" Christian shouted angrily.

"If perusing true art is crazy…then I suppose I am." Ishigami shot back.

"Christian…" Moka whimpered as she felt more parts of her legs turn to stone. However, Christian's transformation was a lot further along than Moka's. His entire lower body was now completely stone and it was spreading faster. Christian assumed the effects were faster for him because he was human.

"Everything will be okay Moka." Christian said, trying to reassure her, despite the fact he was pretty scared himself. The flesh on his arms was now beginning to turn to stone. Suddenly, Christian's eyes widened when he saw the Rosario glinting around Moka's neck. If he could reach it, he could save Moka. Using his remaining strength, Christian forced his stone covered right arm to move from Moka's cheek and forced it down towards the Rosario. Unfortunately, the stone had reached Christian's elbow, meaning he wasn't close enough to pull it off. Christian growled in frustration before a crazy idea came into his head. He could still move his back meaning he could lean forward. But if he did that…

Knowing it was the only way to save her, the teen made a decision. Looking deep in to the eyes of his best friend, Christian said, "Moka I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Moka said sadly. "You tried your best."

"Not for that. For this."

Before she could ask what Christian meant, Moka felt the new sensation of something press against her lips. After a brief moment of shock, Moka realised that Christian was kissing her. Her widened eyes softened and she closed them, forgetting about her surroundings and eased into it, enjoying the feeling of Christian's warm lips against her own. Time stood still for the girl as she forgot about the danger around her.

At the sides, Ishigami was going mental, ranting about how they weren't allowed to kiss however Moka wasn't listening, she didn't even care. She just wanted to enjoy the moment. Perhaps being stuck like this forever wouldn't be so bad? Suddenly a bright, violet light engulfed the room as a wave of monster energy flooded in to it.

Surprised at first, Moka then realised that Christian had pulled off the Rosario, using the kiss in order to get close enough to do it. As she transformed, she enjoyed the last few moments she had before Inner Moka replaced her. _'Please…save Christian…I love him…' _Outer Moka begged her Inner self mentally as her consciousness was replaced.

The thunderous release of monster energy was too much for Ishigami's snakes to handle. As the pressure became too, they tore apart, causing Ishigami to shriek in agony.

"You savages, you know nothing of art!" Ishigami ranted. However, it fell on deaf ears. The medusa looked to find Moka's transformed state. The silver haired vampire was still had her lips against Christian, whose entire body was now stone with the exception of his face.

Finally breaking apart, the pair stared at each other for a brief moment before Christian said with his last breath.

"Win."

Finally, Christian's body was fully stone; cold and unmoving stone. Inner Moka remained still for a few moments. Ishigami watched as the unsealed vampire raised her hand to caress the stone boys face, looking at the new statue with sad eyes.

Suddenly, Inner Moka's head snapped round to glare at Ishigami, her face ablaze with anger. "You…" She said with an intense amount of malice as she moved away from the stone Christian and walked menacingly towards Ishigami. "You are responsible for this…"

For the first time since she had arrived at the school, Ishigami felt absolute terror. She knew that angering this girl meant hell to pay. Desperately trying to get away from the approaching, angry vampire. "Please, stay away!" Ishigami pleaded, absolutely terrified.

"Shut up!" Inner Moka snapped, gritting her teeth as she steeled herself. Jumping up in to the air, twisting several times in the air. "It is far past time," Inner Moka started as she brought down her stone covered leg down on top on Ishigami's head. "You learned your place!"

The blow was so powerful, it completely knocked Ishigami out. As she crumpled to the floor, a trail of blood trickled down her head. After, reluctantly, checking that the medusa was still alive, Inner Moka made her way over to the stone Christian. Staring at him for a few moments, Inner Moka took the Rosario that the stone Christian was loosely holding. Placing it in her pocket, Inner Moka made her way to the door in order to get help. However before she left, the proud vampire couldn't help but look back towards the stone Christian; subconsciously touching her lips before she finally headed towards the school.

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**Friday: present**

As Outer Moka sat staring at the stone Christian lying on the infirmary bed, she couldn't help but feel an intense sadness. Christian was in this situation because he had protected her…again. Christian was always there for her and now he had paid the ultimate price.

The previous day, after Inner Moka had fetched the members of the Newspaper Club, they had returned to discover that all the girls Ishigami had petrified had returned to normal. They laid unconscious on the floor, completely naked. After Zack had knocked Gin out with a swift punch to the face, the rest of the newspaper club fetched a collection of towels to cover the girl's bodies so they could move them to the infirmary. With the help of Zack and Inner Moka, eventually all the girls had been moved to the infirmary where they quickly recovered and left. Christian on the other hand wasn't so lucky. The boy had remained a statue throughout the process of the events. Kurumu, Yukari and Moka (After the Rosario had been placed back on the choker) had remained by Christian's side until they had been forced to leave due to visiting hours ending.

Before the girls left, the nurse had assured them that Christian would eventually return to flesh and blood. As he was a 'monster' the medusa's effects would eventually ware off. She had assumed the only reason it hadn't worn off yet was because Christian was the last person transformed by Ishigami's powers. That was a great thing for the girls to hear, that is…until the nurse went into further detail. Apparently, if a medusa bit a monster, turned them to stone and was then later defeated, the monster would return to normal. However…If a medusa turned a human to stone, there was no going back. The human would remain like that forever.

Of course, that didn't really bother Kurumu and Yukari as they believed Christian was a monster, they believed it was only a matter of time until Christian returned to normal. Moka on the other hand was distraught. Out of the three girls she was the only one who knew Christian was human, the only one who knew he was now stuck as a statue.

The pinkette hadn't been able to tell her friends about Christian's fate, believing they would leave Christian and not except who he is…was. Therefore, Moka was forced to keep her emotions to herself as she returned home with the girls. Zack had remained behind to watch Ishigami in case she got a second wind and decided to make a run for it; not that she could after what Inner Moka done to her, therefore the girls were alone.

Only once she had returned to her room did Moka let out her concealed emotions, breaking down as she cried into her pillow. She cried for her friend who was in a stone coma. Not even her inner self was able to calm her as she too distraught to listen. Moka had gone to sleep that night feeling lonelier than she ever had before.

Now, as Moka stood before the stone figure of the boy who had given her life hope, she found she had none left to spare. Leaning her head forwards on to the bed, Moka once again began to cry. "Please, come back to me." She pleaded through her tears. "Our friends still need you…I still need you." As Moka spoke, she missed the Omnitrix on Christian's wrist light up at her words. "Please, come back." Moka finally said, her head still on the bed.

"MOKA AKASHIYA VOICE KEY RECOGNISED." A sudden voice sounded that resembled Christian's.

"Huh?" Moka asked, looking up only to see no one other than herself. "Who's there?"

"MOKA AKASHIYA VOICE KEY RECOGNISED." Looking towards where the voice had come from, Moka discovered the Omnitrix on Christian's arm was blinking rapidly.

"The Omnitrix?" Moka gasped.

"ANOMALY HAS BEEN DETECTED IN PRIMARY USER DNA CODE." The Omnitrix spoke. "REQUESTING PERMISSION FROM SECONDARY USER TO CORRECT ANOMALY."

Moka suddenly realised what the Omnitrix was saying. Once again, hope flooded through her. Getting up Moka practically screamed, "Yes, permission granted! Please help Christian!"

"COMMAND CODE REQUIRED."

It was then Moka realised she needed a command key to operate the Omnitrix by voice command. Racking her brain, Moka remembered it. "1-1-0-1-0-1!" Moka cried desperately, pleading to the high heavens that whatever the Omnitrix was about to do would work.

"COMMAND CODE VERIFIED." The Omnitrix said as it began to glow brighter. "OMNITRIX WILL NOW PURGE USER OF FOREIGN DNA." Suddenly a green membrane of energy spread out across Christian's stone body. Within seconds the membrane covered Christian from head to toe. Moka watched in amazement as the membrane glowed brighter until Christian could no longer be seen through the glow. It wasn't bright enough to force Moka to cover her eyes so she was able to watch as the glow began to fade, revealing peach coloured skin instead of stone grey. When the light had finally disappeared Christian was revealed to be completely back to normal, none of his flesh was stone anymore.

Moka found herself unable to move as she stared at her friend in absolute happiness, tears of joys covering her eyes. "Christian…?" She said, her voice barely more audible than a whisper. Suddenly the teen's eyes opened slowly and wearily. He turned to his left and as his vision became more focused he was able to make out the image of the pinkette beside him.

Smiling, Christian looked happily at the vampire in front of him. "Hey." He said tiredly.

"Hey." Moka replied, smiling back, tears beginning to flow freely down her face. Suddenly and without warning, Moka leapt forward at Christian who had only just managed to sit up in the bed. "I was so worried about you!" She cried in to his chest. "When the nurse told me humans bitten by a medusa never turn back, I didn't think I would ever be able to see you again!"

Moka felt Christian's arms wrap around her as he comforted her. "I'm sorry I worried you." He said soothingly. "I promise I won't let it happen again."

Moka's smile never ceased as she snuggled closer into her friend, happy to have her Christian back. Inside the Rosario, Inner Moka, even though she would never admit it, was relieved to know Christian had recovered. The human boy…had grown on her slightly over the time she had known him. It didn't mean he was excused for kissing her without permission though. He would pay for that later.

Back with Christian and Outer Moka, the pair were still hugging, enjoying each other's company. Finally separating, the pair continued to look each other in the eyes. After a few moments of silence, Christian finally spoke; his cheeks tinged red. "Moka, I need to apologise for what happened when I unsealed you." He said, referring to their kiss. "I know it was wrong of me to do so but…"

Moka's cheeks also rouged as she remembered the moments before she transformed. "I-It's ok…" Moka stopped him before he could say any more. "I understand why you did it…"

An awkward silence settled between the two teens as they both relived the moment that had happened between them. Thankfully, they were interrupted by the sound of the door to the infirmary opening. Christian and Moka looked away from each other to see their friends from the Newspaper Club standing in the doorway, looks of relief on their faces.

"CHRISTIAN!" Kurumu and Yukari cried joyously as they ran into the room and tackled Christian away from an ever so slightly jealous Moka.

"Good to see you're back Bro." Zack said with a wide smile on his face as he walked into the room.

"Yeah, I guess…" Gin said sarcastically which earned him a punch in the chest from Zack.

"Hey guys." Christian said as he struggled against the holds of Kurumu and Yukari. "It's good to see you."

"Not as good as it is to see you!" Kurumu cried as she attempted to nuzzle her way closer to Christian. "I was so worried about you. A lot more than those other girls were." Kurumu remarked.

"No!" Yukari cried as she tried to push Kurumu away. "I was way more worried about him then you were!"

Chuckling, Christian pulled both girls in to a hug, making both their cheeks warmer by the gesture. "Thank you both for worrying about me." Christian said simply. "I promise I won't make you do it very often."

"Somehow I doubt that." Zack remarked as he stood watching the happy scene in front of him.

Smirking at what Zack had said, Christian quickly realised he didn't know what day it was. "How long was I…stone…for?" he asked curiously.

"Just a little under a day." Gin replied. "It's Friday now."

"Right…" Christian replied slowly, knowing he had something to do.

Moka, seeing Christian's expression, remembered that it was his birthday; meaning she needed to finish her gift, quickly.

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Christian had spent most of the day in the infirmary while the nurse checked there were no after effects of being turned to stone. Once he had finally been discharged, he walked back to the dorms with the girls and Zack; Gin had long since run off somewhere. They spent an hour or two hanging out in Christian's dorm room, playing cards and chatting before Moka had to leave to go and run an 'errand'. At that point the rest of Christian's friends left as well, agreeing to meet at the club the next day to work on their first newspaper.

After Kurumu, who had been the most reluctant, had left; Christian decided to change into some casual clothing. Once he had eaten some dinner, Christian decided it was time to do what he had to. Putting on his shoes, Christian left the dorms and headed out. After a few minutes of walking he came to a hill he had discovered recently where you could actually see the stars. Standing tall, Christian stood still and looked up at the night stars. This was something Christian did every year on his birthday.

He would go out and look at the stars like he used to do with his parents before they…died. It helped him feel like they weren't truly gone, that they were still there watching him and looking after him. It was these moments where Christian would renew his promises to his parents and talk to them about what had been happening recently in his life.

"Hey Mum, Hey Dad…" Christian greeted, directing his words to the stars. "It's been another year and I haven't come any closer to avenging you." He said sadly. "But I won't stop looking, I won't rest until I find the one who killed you. But you already know that…so I guess I should tell you about what's been happening recently. Well, I finally became an official member of the Plumbers and I got my first assignment. It's quite a big one so I don't think I'll be back going back to Bellwood for a while. Boy…I have a lot to tell you." Christian spent the next few minutes explaining about why he was at Yokai Academy and about the friends he had made during his time there. However, when he came to talk about a certain vampire girl, Christian spoke with so much pride you would think he was married to her. "She an amazing person," Christian finally said. "I know you guys would have loved to meet her."

"Chris…?"

Christian spun around to see his pink haired, vampire friend standing in front of him, a large covered object beside her.

"Moka? What are you doing here?" Christian asked, confused.

"I saw you leave the dorms and decided to follow you so…I could give you this." Moka replied, gesturing towards the covered object.

"What's that?"

"I-It's a present." Moka answered, positioning the gift so that Christian would be able to see it. "You see…the reason I was modelling was so that I could get extra lessons with Ms. Ishigami to make this." She explained, removing the cover to reveal a painting.

The painting depicted Christian in his school uniform, sitting at his desk in homeroom, smiling happily. The painting was extremely well done and you could tell that a lot of care had gone into it.

"The title of the piece Ms. Ishigami set was, 'What's Important to Me'. She set it so she could help me during lessons to complete this." Moka explained.

To say Christian was touched was an understatement. He looked from the painting to Moka repeatedly before speaking. "Moka…It's lovely but why did you do this for me."

Looking nervously at the ground, Moka replied, "Mr. Tennyson told me that today was your birthday. And…also why you don't celebrate it."

"He did, did he?" Christian responded, frowning slightly.

"I wanted to do something special for you as you're important to me." The pinkette explained. "I didn't want you to be unhappy."

Christian frown quickly changed into a warm smile as he walked over to his friend and wrapped her in a hug. "Thank you, Moka. You truly are the greatest friend a guy could ask for." Smiling, Moka returned the hug as she blushed at how close the two were. Once the hug was broken, Christian couldn't help but ask, "Do you wanna stay here and watch the stars for a bit? I plan to go back soon anyway."

Surprised by the request, Moka nodded, happy to be able to spend some time with Christian.

After moving the painting so that it would be safe, Christian laid down on the top of the hill, side by side, where they gazed happily up into the night sky. Every so often Christian would point out a planet he knew about. Moka was amazed by his vast knowledge of other planets and found it fascinating to be able to listen to what he knew.

"Chris…?" Moka started timidly, unsure whether she should ask her next question.

"What is it Moka?"

"I was just wondering…if you were to ever go back into space on one of your adventures, would it at all be possible…if I could come with you?"

Hearing that, Christian smiled as he reached out and grabbed a hold of her hand, causing the two to blush by the sudden contact. Christian looked at Moka and realised just how beautiful she looked bathed in the light of the moon. "It would be an honour to have you with me." He told her. Smiling, the two returned to looking at the stars, not realising that they were still holding each other's hands. As the night continued on, two of the night stars above the pair shone brighter than the rest as they happily looked down upon the human/vampire duo and fore sore what was yet to come.

**I loved writing this chapter, as I said before it is one of my favourites in the manga. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it.**

**I am happy to announce the winner of the fan girl race are the Cat Girls with a score of 6-2. I am now setting up another pole to determine the pairings of Kurumu and Mizore for this story. I am not giving Christian a harem as I'm not exactly fond of writing them (despite the fact their will eventually be one harem in this story). You will be able to see the options on my page. There are three options for Kurumu and two for Mizore so I shall leave you to choose. You can choose more than one but I ask you don't choose the same guy for both girls.**

**Unfortunately with my approaching exams, updates may become even slower as my time will be taken up by revision. I will still try to update as much as I can but you have been warned.**

**Next chapter I will be revealing Zack's conversation with the security committee member from the last chapter. I leave you to look forward to that.**

**Once again, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I shall see you next time.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Well I'm back with the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it, I worked hard on it despite it being shorter than normal. Honestly, I just really want to get to writing the next chapter as there will be a lot more fights in that one. This chapter starts one day after the last chapter. I have to say I wasn't very happy with the original version from the manga so my version is going to go through some big changes, I think we can all agree Nagare deserves everything he is going to get in this chapter. This chapter is shorter than normal because I couldn't really think of what to say, however it is at least ten thousand words.**

**Before I begin, I want to thank everyone for their continuing support with my story. It really means a lot to me.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy.**

"**..." Speech**

'**...' Quote **

'_**Hi' Thought**_

_Christian had thought__** Flashback **_

"**Learn your place!" **Inner Moka through Rosario

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC**

**Alien Watch in a Monster School**

**Chapter 8**

**The Slimiest Stalker**

"I can't believe it was your birthday yesterday and you told Moka and not me!" Kurumu whined, latching on to Christian and not letting go, much to the annoyance of the other girls in the room.

It was the day after Christian had returned to being flesh and blood and the Newspaper Club was currently having its Saturday meeting. This meant they would be working all day in order to complete the newspaper they planned to hand out on Monday. Christian had just told his friends he had turned sixteen the previous day; upsetting his friends as they had been unable to celebrate it.

"It's not a big deal." Christian deadpanned. "I don't really celebrate it anyway."

"How can you not celebrate your birthday, Bro!?" Zack exclaimed, throwing open his arms for emphasis. "Birthdays are great! You get cake, presents, a party, it's so exciting!"

"Yes, well my birthday has never really been a great time for me." Christian told his friend. "It's not something I like to talk about."

"Why?" Yukari asked curiously. The young witch was sitting away from the other members of the club working on a special laptop that she had made herself.

Before Christian could answer, Moka interrupted. "Yukari, I'm sure Christian doesn't want to talk about it so perhaps we should just leave the matter be." Moka, of course, was the only one who knew why Christian didn't celebrate his birthday and why it was a sensitive subject. Because of the moment the two had shared the previous day, Moka felt closer to Christian. She felt like she understood him better than before. Despite being unable to admit it to him, she felt different about Christian for some reason. She couldn't place her feelings however she had a pretty good idea of what they were.

"Moka's right." The five other Newspaper Club members looked to the front of the room at their 'oh so valiant leader', who was currently sitting at the desk, sipping coffee. "You guys need to focus on the paper. Our front page story happened on Thursday, the day before yesterday!" the werewolf boy lectured. "If we don't have it in print by the beginning of the week, we can hardly call it 'news'! Therefore save your bitching for when we put the paper to bed." The teen finished, taking another sip from his coffee.

"If you're that interested in getting this finished then don't just sit there sipping your coffee!" Moka shouted at the werewolf boy who was trying his hardest to look charming.

"Yeah, you may as well try and be useful!" Zack shouted, glaring angrily at the club president. "It's pretty much the only thing you're good for."

"So true." Yukari commented, not looking up from her computer screen. "I feel like a fanfiction writer desperately trying to please their readers."

"Perhaps we should stop linking this to fanfiction and start focusing on the paper." Christian suggested, sweat dropping at how far the conversation had gotten off topic.

"Well I don't care what I'm doing; as long as I'm with you, Christian." Kurumu declared, latching on to Christian once again.

"KURUMU!" Moka exclaimed, looking extremely jealous.

On the side lines, Zack leaned over to Yukari and whispered, "Time for a cat fight." Causing the young girl to giggle as they watched intently at what was about to unfold.

"I know you managed to get one over on me yesterday since you knew it was Christian's birthday, but I'm not dumb!" Kurumu declared, sticking her tongue out at the pinkette as she moved closer into the boy. "I'll never let you have him!"

Moka expression turned into one of shock as she listened to Kurumu's words. For some reason they filled her with unease. Moka had been feeling like this for a while and she found herself unable to place when these feelings began to emerge

As the two, older female members of the News Club began bickering; they failed to notice a strange boy sitting in a tree outside the club room. The boy had sickly green, shoulder length hair that covered one of his eyes. He was wearing a plain white T-shirt and brown chinos. The boy appeared to be sweating profusely as he stared hungrily through a camera he was pointing at the News Club window to get a clear view of the two bickering girls who were now bashing fists together childishly while Christian tried his best to split them up.

"There you are…" The boy swooned, sighing as he looked through the lens at the object of his affections. Removing the camera from his eye for a moment, the boy began to snigger. "Hehehehe, you're so sweet my love, I can no longer stand just watching you from a far. Soon Kurumu…You will be mine." Raising the camera back to his eye, the boy freaked out when he saw Christian and Zack glaring at him. _'Shit.'_ He thought, moving to escape from the tree before a green flash appeared from the club room. The boy had barely touched the ground before a certain speedster had appeared before him, carrying Zack along with him.

"Who are you?" XLR8 demanded, eyeing the sweaty boy with cautious eyes.

"And why are you aiming your camera at our club?" Zack finished their true question, looking angrily at the stranger in front of him.

Knowing that he was screwed if he didn't think of something quickly, the sweaty boy quickly formulated a lie to fool the two in front of him. "My names Nagare." The boy said. "You see, I'm a photographer in training and I normally go around taking pictures of the school." He explained, putting on a false smile to try and further persuade the two suspicious teens he wasn't up to no good. Taking out some pictures from his back pocket, Nagare showed them to XLR8 and Zack. "See, these are some of the ones I took the other day. I take them to help with the photography club."

Looking at the pictures presented before them, XLR8 and Zack saw that the pictures were indeed ones that showed various parts of the school. However, XLR8 couldn't help but feel like there was something odd about them.

The boys handed Nagare back his pictures, however they still looked at him dubiously. "I guess what you say rings true." Zack said to Nagare, slightly gritting his teeth. "However, in future you had better ask permission before you decide to take pictures of someone."

Nagare nodded, smiling widely. "Of course, I'm very sorry. It won't happen again." With those words, Nagare ran off away from the two teens; a smirk plastering his face as he laughed internally. _'Idiots, they actually believed that? Kurumu…you will be mine soon enough." _

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After their run in with Nagare, XLR8 had rushed himself and Zack back to the club room where they told the other members what had transpired outside, not bothering to tell the others Nagare's name as they felt it was unimportant. Once they had expalined he had only been there for club activites, the News Club got back to work.

After an hour of being cramped up in the club room, the door opened to reveal the enthusiastic advisor of the News Club, Ms. Nekonome; who happened to be carrying a small plastic bag.

"Hello, everyone!" The cat like teacher greeted as cheerfully as ever, cutting straight through the gloomy atmosphere that surrounded the five teens. "I see you're all working hard.

"Well, most of us." Zack replied, sending a glare at Gin, causing the werewolf boy to flinch slightly.

"Well why don't you guys all take a break?" Ms. Nekonome suggested holding up the bag she had brought with her. "I've brought snacks after all." Ms. Nekonome then proceeded to hand the bag over to Christian, who opened it to peer inside; Moka and Zack on either side of him.

Needless to say they weren't exactly appetized by what they found inside. "Umm…Ms. Nekonome….?" Christian began. "These fish are raw…"

Of course that was when the bag began to move. "There not just raw! They're alive!" Zack exclaimed in shock.

Gin sighed and shrugged, slightly amused by the little discovery of his club mates. "Guess I forgot to mention that." He began. "There's something you're all going to have to get used to since Ms. Nekonome's our club advisor. She's a great fish lover…"

"And it's best when it's fresh!" The club advisor cheered, fist pumping the air with the happiest expression her students had ever seen her have. Once she had come back to reality, Ms. Nekonome turned to Kurumu; who was watching Christian with stars in her eyes. "By the way Kurumu," The cat like teacher said, catching the succubus's attention. Ms. Nekonome reached into her jacket pocket and produced a small letter. "I found this outside the club room. It was addressed to you so I decided to bring it in." Kurumu took the letter and read the envelope which said "_To my dearest Kurumu_".

'_A love letter? I wonder who would send me one of those." _Kurumu thought as her eye darted over to Christian; who was currently watching Zack slap Gin with a fish for being lazy. _'Has he finally taken notice of me?' _Kurumu asked herself hopefully, her face slightly flushed. Without waiting one another second, Kurumu opened the letter and looked inside. To her horror, she found no letter proclaiming love. Instead she found a set of pictures all depicting her less than satifactory clothing. _'What?!' _Kurumu mentally screamed, terrified by the fact someone had taken pictures of her without her knowledge. After looking closer in the envelope, Kurumu found a note from the sender telling her to meet him at the monster tree at the back of the school campus. Doing a good job of hiding her anger, Kurumu quickly threw the pictures in a nearby bin before looking around worriedly at her other club members. _'They'll get on fine until I get back, right?' _ Kurumu reassured herself turning to look out the window. She didn't like the idea of having to leave the club but this was important. If someone was taking pictures of her, she needed to deal with it; her friends didn't need to get involved.

"Kurumu, what's wrong?"

The succubus was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of Christian calling her. Trying hard not to give away that she was annoyed about the contents of the envelope. "Nothing's wrong." Kurumu replied, putting on her best fake smile. "Why would anything be wrong?"

"Well there's the fact that you started acting strangely the moment you looked at that letter you just threw in the bin." Zack pointed out, joining the conversation.

Kurumu paled realising she had been caught. She also knew they would request to see the letters contents. Lunging for the bin, Kurumu found herself too late as a certain werewolf dashed past her and grabbed the item she had been trying to retrieve. "What have we got here then?" Gin asked cheekily as he took the discarded envelope out of the bin. "Whoa! Someone's been busy!" Gin cried, causing Kurumu to go extremely red as tears formed in her eyes. Christian and Zack looked over Gin's shoulders before they both went red too. Before anything else could be said, Zack began pummelling Gin as if the pictures were his fault. "What-! The-! Hell!" Gin shouted between the onslaughts of attacks Zack was inflicting on him.

Christian stood still for a few moments, stupefied by the situation. Moka and Yukari had both picked up the pictures Gin had dropped when Zack started beating him and were now red as beets. Turning his head away from the other girls, Christian looked towards Kurumu; who was now crying in a corner. Feeling extremely sorry for her, Christian walked over to his friend and kneeled down next to her.

Kurumu was now absolutely distraught. All her friends, and even the one she called her destined one, had seen those pictures of her. She was ruined, Christian would never want to be with her now.

"Kurumu…" Christian tried, hoping to get a response from his succubus friend. Unfortunately, Kurumu didn't reply; she simply sniffled in to the wall, her hands on her knees. "Kurumu, I know this is hard for you…but I want you to know none of us think of you badly." Christian told her reassuringly. "We're going to make this guy pay for what he has done to you."

Kurumu's eyes widened at the declaration. Slowly, she turned her head to see Christian smiling at her. She was so relieved that Christian still liked her, she was so scared he wouldn't want anything to do with her.

"That's right, Kurumu." Moka added, putting the pictures to one side and sending a smile to the succubus. "There is no way we are going to let this guy black mail one of our friends."

"Moka…" Kurumu murmured, her confidence rising.

"This guy is the enemy to all women!" Yukari cried. "He needs a serious butt whooping!"

"He deserves a lot more than that." Zack growled, having finished beating a now near unconscious Gin. "He needs to pay for threatening one of my friends."

"Yukari…Zack."

Christian stood up straight, a hardened expression on his face. "I think we should meet your stalker." He said, his voice bitter with anger. "It's about time he got a reality check."

"Christian…" Kurumu whimpered, tears of happiness forming in her eyes.

"Shall we?" Christian asked, extending his hand for Kurumu to take.

Her diminished expression changing it to one of happiness, Kurumu gladly grabbed a hold of Christian's hand; her face now determined. Her stalker was going to pay…in full.

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At the Monster Tree, Nagare sat high up in its branches, waiting patiently for Kurumu to arrive. He had left his little note at the Newspaper Club's door a little after his run in with Zack and XLR8. He was confident he had made the note persuasive enough for Kurumu not to tell her friends, therefore there was nothing to worry about.

However he hadn't expected Kurumu to take this long. Had she not received the letter? Or had she panicked and decided to not come? Nagare had been careful not to use his name on the envelope and also made sure his fingerprints weren't on it so it couldn't be tracked back to him. If this plan didn't work, Nagare had several other contingency plans he could use to finally ensnare Kurumu.

"Hehehe. You will be mine eventually, my sweet Kurumu." The slimy boy chuckled to himself, not realising his plan had already split at the seams.

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Kurumu followed the cobbled path that lead to the Monster Tree. The plant life deserved its name for it actually looked like a giant, wooden monster instead of a tree. Due to its weird appearance, not many people went near it due to strange rumour that the tree was actually a fierce monster in hibernation. Lots of people thought this story was bogus however most monsters were selfish and didn't want to take any chances.

Kurumu shivered as at the tree's appearance, not believing just how big it was. Steeling herself, Kurumu decided it was time to confront her stalker. Taking a deep breath, Kurumu shouted, "Come on out now, you creep! I have a bone to pick with you!"

"Oh…now that's mean Kurumu…" A slimy voice spoke from the branches of the tree.

Kurumu looked up to see Nagare staring down at her, a sleazy, false grin on his face. His camera was fixed on Kurumu and didn't appear like it was gonna move any time soon. The look in Nagare's eyes was horrible and unclean, making the girl feel sick just by looking at him.

"Who are you!?" the succubus demanded, just wishing that the boy would give her a reason to attack.

"Have you honestly forgotten about me already?" The sweaty teen snickered, jumping down from the tree and landing a little way away from Kurumu. "I'm Nagare. We met during the first week of school. You asked me to take photos of you."

Kurumu cast her mind back several weeks to before she had become friends with Christian and the others. Finally, something clicked in her brain and she remembered what Nagare was talking about. Back when she was set on completing her harem plot, Kurumu had allowed Nagare to take some pictures of her because he had said she was prettier than Moka. (Actually he had said something else but Kurumu had taken it that way.) She had planned to use the pictures as a way to get the boys to come and see her so she could seduce them with her 'charm'. However, since she had met Christian, Kurumu found that she had no need for the pictures and had cast them away; forgetting Nagare in the process. Unfortunately, he hadn't forgotten about her.

From the scowl on Kurumu's face, Nagare could see that Kurumu had remembered him. "I see it's all come back to you, good…" Nagare reached in to his back pocket and pulled out his copies of the pictures he had sent Kurumu. "Now if you don't want these pictures being spread around school, you'll do exactly what I say for the day." He demanded, a confident smirk on his face. However, much to the shock of the despicable boy, Kurumu smirked for the first time since she had arrived. Nagare couldn't understand why, he was threatening her and she was treating it like a joke? "What's so funny!?" Nagare shouted, this was not going to plan.

"You won't be doing any of that!" Kurumu told him determinedly. "And I won't be doing anything for you, because you're going to be giving me those pictures plus any others you've taken!"

"And why would I do that!?" Nagare spat.

"So **they** won't beat you to a pulp." Kurumu replied, pointing at something behind the sweaty teen.

Suddenly, Nagare felt an incredible sense of danger as an emerald light flashed behind him. Slowly, the slimy teen turned around only to be greeted by an angry Zack and an even angrier Humungousaur. Apparently, while Kurumu had been distracting Nagare, Christian and Zack had snuck up behind them. Seeing the giant dinosaur 'monster' who had taken down a class rep as well as the boy who had taken down five monsters without having to revert to his monster form, Nagare went extremely pale. By the glares they were sending him, Nagare could tell they remembered him from that morning. Of course that meant they were going to be extremely angry for him lying to them.

"So, you're the one who decided to threaten Kurumu." Zack commented through gritted teeth.

"You have a lot of nerve threatening one off our friends." Humungousaur added, pounding one of his massive fists into the other.

'_Shit!'_ Nagare thought in panic as the two boys began walking towards him menacingly. "Hi gu-ahhh!"

Nagare had been unable to finish his sentence before Zack had socked him across the face, sending the boy sprawling to the ground. Nagare looked up to see Humungousaur standing over him. The dinosaur like alien scowled down at the sweaty boy, thoroughly terrifying him.

Zack and Kurumu both moved so that they were standing side by side with Humungousaur, joining him in glaring at Nagare. Before Nagare could say anything else, Humungousaur interrupted him. "I don't care that you lied to me," He growled. "I don't even care you were taking pictures of us." The dino like alien cast a side glance towards Kurumu before turning his attention back towards the slimy boy on the floor in front of him. "However you threatened one of my friends and that was your biggest mistake." Nagare's eyes hardened, growing angrier by the second that he was being talked down to by the Gaijin. "Now, you're going to give Kurumu all the copies of the pictures you took of her and delete any that are on that camera of yours or…you're going to regret it."

Nagare looked at Humungousaur, Zack and Kurumu in mock bravery, weighing his options. "And what happens if I don't?"

All three teens smirked; they had been looking forward to this. "We were hoping you would ask that." Zack replied, allowing his anger for the boy to flow through him, making a red aura flow off him whilst his hair spiked.

Kurumu's aura also changed as she revealed her monster form. Her tail shot out from behind and her wings folded out. Her ears pointed and her nails extended like knives. Smirking, Kurumu looked victoriously at Nagare.

Humungousaur's body began to tremble as the dinosaur like alien began to grow bigger. The sash that was around the alien stretched slightly against the strain of the growth but was soon unable to hold itself together. The sash broke, falling to pieces and leaving the Omnitrix symbol behind on Humungousaur's chest. Stegosaur-like plates grew on his back as well as a crest above his forehead. Spikes shot out of his tail and three shoulder plates separated and grew, giving him a more ferocious look. Plates on the Humungousaur's arms also grew out, adding to the look. All the while this was going on, Humungousaur had been growing to a size of sixty feet; making him tower above the others. "If you don't give Kurumu the pictures, we'll make what happened to the Class Rep look like an accident." He threatened, his voice booming due to his new size.

Still playing the brave act, Nagare stuttered, "Y-you're b-bluffing."

Suddenly, Humungousaur raised his massive fist and aimed it at the ground. Nagare, seeing what was coming covered himself in fear. When Humungousaur brought down his fist, the earth around them shaking violently.

Nagare opened one eye to realise he had been unharmed. Looking to his right side, he was terrified to see just how close Humungousaur had been to hitting him; the still closed fist was less than a meter away from him and had created a small crater upon impact.

"Next time," Humungousaur began, forcing the sweaty boy to look up at the giant and his friends. "I won't miss."

Nagare panicked; throwing the pictures and his camera to the ground, the boy made a break for the school, scared for his life.

After watching him go, Zack's aura dissipated, Kurumu returned to her human form and Humungousaur shrank back down to his normal size before reverting back into Christian. Smiling to themselves, the three decided to head back to the club room to help the others finish of their newspaper. Hopefully they wouldn't have to deal with Nagare again.

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Once Nagare was sure he had been sure he had run far enough, the sweaty boy's face contorted in frustration and anger. Never in his life had he been so humiliated. He was going to make them pay, that whole stupid club was going to pay for what they had done to him; starting with the people who had humiliated him most.

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Once they were back in the club room; Kurumu, Zack and Christian told the rest of the club what had happened outside and how Nagare had run away. Needless to say the other members were happy to know Kurumu's honour had been restored. Unfortunately they didn't have the luxury of having time to celebrate due to their approaching deadline. However that didn't stop the members of the News Club from talking whilst they worked.

"I can't believe the nerve of that Nagare guy!" Yukari fumed as tapped away on her computer. "You guys did the right thing teaching that guy a lesson."

"I still think we should have punished the bastard instead of scaring him." Zack huffed, annoyed he hadn't been able to wreak out justice.

"If we had hurt him we wouldn't be any better than him." Christian told his friend. "As much as we may have wanted to it's the wrong thing to do."

"Christian's right." Moka commented, understanding where the boy was coming from. "What would the point be in standing up to people like him if you have to resort to their level?"

"I guess…" Zack conceded, scribbling away at the article he was writing on exercise schedules for those who needed it.

All this time, Kurumu had remained silent, thinking about her friends and what they had done for her. "Guys…" She began slowly, trying her hardest to keep in her emotions otherwise she feared she may cry. The others turned their attentions to the succubus girl, waiting for her to continue. "I know I'm not exactly what you'd call the perfect friend, but you were there for me when I needed you today. If you hadn't found out about that letter, who knows what I would be doing for that creep." Kurumu began to say, tear welling up in her eyes. "I-I jus- I want to say…I want to say thank you. Thank you for not judging me. For being there for me when I needed you. For-for being my friends…" Kurumu's tears finally began to flow as all her bottled up feelings began to flow.

"Kurumu…" Moka replied, eyeing her friend with sympathy.

"You guys are the greatest friends anyone could ask for." Kurumu said between her tears. "I swear that I will do anything for you. You guys mean everything to me."

Suddenly, Kurumu felt someone place a hand on her shoulder. Looking to her side, Kurumu saw Christian smiling at her. To everyone's surprise, Christian pulled Kurumu into a light hug. "You don't need to do anything for us, Kurumu. We're friends, that's enough for us to know."

Kurumu, face flushed, was shocked by the sudden closeness between herself and the boy she considered her destined one. Not questioning a gift horse, she returned the hug feeling slightly better. Moka on the other hand felt something enrage within her at seeing Christian hug Kurumu. She understood that it was out of comfort however she couldn't help but wish that it was her who was wrapped in Christian's arms.

Unbeknownst to anyone else, Christian's words had also had an effect on Zack. _'Friends…'_ He thought as a memory from just over a week ago replayed itself for the umpteenth time.

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"_So this is the mighty Zackery Orion? I have to say, I am very unimpressed." A feminine voice sounded behind Zack, making the boy jump to his feet and get into a fighting stance, ready for anything. _

_Zack eyed his opponent, taking in their appearance. In front of him was a girl with long, waist length purple hair and purple eyes. She was wearing a skin tight, buttoned up, black, short sleeved uniform which tightly covered her voluptuous body. On the side of her right arm was a white and gold armband with a symbol he had never seen before. Zack couldn't help but notice that the girl's eyes were squinted and seemed evil. Whoever this person was, Zack didn't trust her. "Who are you?!" Zack demanded. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't take you out right now." _

_The purple haired girl merely smirked at Zack's reaction, amused by Zack's threat. "Calm down jumpy, I only came here to talk." _

_Despite her claim, Zack didn't lower his guard. "You have five minutes before I lose my cool." He replied coldly. _

_The girl in black smirked again. "Well then, I guess I had better start talking." She said, placing a hand on her hip a before continuing. "Do you know about the schools Public Safety Committee?"_

"_Indulge me." Zack replied, not taking his eye of the girl for a second, he deactivated his ear piece, believing he would be able to handle this on his own. Christian already had his hands full looking for the peeping tom. _

"_We keep the peace and protect the justice at this school." The girl explained. "Everything we do is for the sake of ensuring that this school is kept safe." Zack's eyes widened ever so slightly, surprised he had never heard of this committee. If they were so intent on keeping the peace, surely they would have made themselves known. "This brings me to why I am here." The Security Committee member continued. "We have been watching you mister Orion and our leader sees tremendous skill in your abilities."_

"_Does he now?" Zack commented. "And may I ask the name of this leader?" _

"_You will learn soon enough. That is, if you accept his offer." _

"_And what exactly is this 'offer'?" Zack replied, looking over his shoulder; slightly worried that if Christian needed him he wouldn't be able to respond. _

"_We would like to offer you the prestigious honour of joining the Security Committee." The girl explained, smirking at Zack's now flabbergasted expression. "Our leader believes you have talent and asked me to let you know that the position is open if you want it." _

_Zack looked at the girl in front of him in shock, he hadn't expected this to happen tonight. "I don't believe I have the 'honour' of knowing your name." He finally commented, lowering his guard. _

_The girl smirked, knowing she was slowly but successfully leading Zack in. "You may call me Keito." The girl instructed. "I'm glad to see you no longer see me as a threat." _

"_Don't get me wrong, I'm still ready to fight if you try anything." Zack deadpanned. _

"_I'm sure you are." Keito replied, stepping towards the boy. "You are…rather interesting." She commented, brushing her shoulder against Zack's as she passed him. "It's hard to believe you could take down five monsters alone whilst in your human form. Tell me, how did you do it?" _

_Zack sighed, remembering that particular fight. "It was nothing special." He deadpanned. "They were all bark and no bite; mostly C class monsters with one B class. They were far too cocky for their own good." _

"_That doesn't answer my question." Keito pointed out. "I asked how you defeated them, not what your opponents were like." _

_Zack's eyes narrowed as he looked at Keito, he didn't like being probed for information. However, seeing as she was offering him an important position as a part of the school, he decided to oblige the girl's curiosity… for the moment anyway. "I've been training in martial arts since I was a child." He explained. "It helps when you're not exactly the strongest in terms of your monster rank." _

"_And what type of monster are you, exactly." _

"_Sorry, but isn't that against the rule?" Zack said sarcastically. "And aren't you supposed to be enforcing them?" _

_Keito frowned at the answer she had received, not allowing the anger she had at that moment to show. Her master wanted this boy to join them, Keito needed to play the nice guy. "Fine, don't tell me. I'm sure you'll be more willing when you join us."_

"_Who said I was joining?" Zack asked. "I haven't accepted yet." He pointed out with a smirk._

_Keito was now finding it extremely hard to keep her cool. Zack was do a great job of showing her up and she did not like that. Through gritted teeth, she managed to get out, "What I meant was…if you join, I'm sure you'll be more open with your new team." _

"_But I'm already a part of the News Club." Zack said. "Why should I join you if I'm already in a club with my friends?" _

_At the mention of the specified club, Keito frowned. "I wouldn't be too comfortable around that club." She said distastefully, piquing Zack's curiosity. "They are nothing but a bunch of trouble makers who stick their noses in things that don't concern them." Keito quickly turned away from Zack. "We should have finished them off last year…" _

"_What was that?" Zack asked, having missed Keito's utterance. "I didn't quite hear you." _

_Keito shook her head, shaking out the dark memories from her mind as she focused on the task at hand. "It doesn't matter…" She deadpanned. "What does is that I am here to recruit you to our cause. Now will you join or not!?" she demanded. _

_Zack's expression turned serious as he thought about Keito's proposition, however it was a very big decision to make in a short amount of time. He was going to need time to think about it. "I'm sorry…" He apologised. "I'm going to need some time to think about this before I come to a final decision." _

_Keito actually frowned, angry by Zack's answer. "It's due to those friends of yours isn't it?" The purple haired girl asked before a cruel smile appeared on her face. "You know…they are most likely going to leave you alone, right?"_

_Zack's mind went blank at the suggestion. Slowly, his eyes narrowed to glare to glare at Keito. "What?" He growled._

"_I've seen it many times before." Keito continued, ignoring Zack's question. "People pretend to be your friend so they can use you for; protection, cash, laughs and anything else they want before they toss you aside like yesterday's trash." _

"_Shut up!" Zack shouted, losing his cool. "My friends aren't like that!" _

"_Are you sure about that?" Keito asked, walking straight up to Zack until she was only millimetres away from him, both standing on the edge of the dorm. "I'll think you'll find that those friends of yours aren't as great as you make them out to be." Keito tiptoed her fingers up Zack's stomach to his chest before placing both hands on it. "They will let you down…but us in the committee, we will always be there to…catch you." With those two last words, Keito pushed Zack off the edge of the building; sending him hurtling to the ground. _

_As the wind rushed past him, he couldn't believe he had been so stupid as to let his guard down. As it looked more certain Zack was going to crash in to the ground, the falling boy felt something hit his back. Almost immediately, Zack's descent stopped with a hard tug, stopping him just before he met his fate. After a few moments, the force holding him went slack and Zack fell the remaining few meters. Landing on his feet, Zack looked back up towards the roof of the building to see Keito smirking back down at him, a smirk on her face. Zack sent the girl a scowl which she took no notice of. "When you finally come to the 'right' decision, come and find me, I'll be watching." With that, the mysterious girl walked away from the edge of the dorm and disappeared from sight. _

_Still scowling, Zack took off his jacket to see what Keito had used to save him. However, he was surprised to see that the thing which had saved him was a large string of webbing. Looking back up towards the roof, Zack knew that he had some big decisions to make and not a lot of time to make them._

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After Zack had removed the sticky thread from his clothing, he had tried to contact Christian to check up on him. Unfortunately, Zack had lost his ear piece in the fall from the roof and was forced to look for it. By the time he had finally found it, Christian had already fought Gin as XLR8 and Blitzwolfer and had been accused of being the peeping tom. Zack had told Christian the reason he didn't respond was because he gone to look in another area to speed up the search and had forgotten to listen to the ear piece. Of course Christian had been annoyed Zack had pretty much ditched him but he had bigger things to worry about at the time and quickly forgave him.

However, over the past week, Keito's words had stuck with Zack; nagging at the back of his mind. He found it hard to just dismiss them. However, after seeing the events of the past week, Zack felt that Keito had been wrong about his friends. He trusted them and believed they would never let him down.

Zack came back to the world to see that Kurumu and Christian had long since separated and had continued to work. Moka, Yukari and Gin were also doing their respective jobs and focusing upon their tasks. Casting his thoughts aside, Zack went back to writing his article.

The News Club continued to work for a few more hours until, finally, Christian looked up the clock on the wall only to see that it was ten o'clock. "I think we should stop here for now guys." He said, finishing the sentence he had been writing. "We can finish it off tomorrow."

Hearing that, the other members of the Newspaper Club let out tired yawns, fully agreeing with the suggestion. "It's a shame were unable to finish today though." Yukari commented, saving the work on her laptop before leaving it on the table to be used the next day.

"We would have been but we had to deal with that Nagare guy." Zack pointed out, annoyance in his voice. "I still think he deserved more than what we did."

"Well we can't change our actions now." Moka replied, neatly placing the nearly complete newspaper draft in a protective case and leaving it next to Yukari's computer.

"Yeah." Christian agreed before he realised that someone else in the room was being extremely quiet. "What do you think Gi-" Christian had turned around to ask the club president his thoughts on the matter only to discover he had been asleep, leaning back in his seat for God knows how long.

"Not exactly the most inspiring leader, is he?" Kurumu commented with a huff.

Despite the annoyance at Gin for being lazy, surprisingly, Zack hadn't done anything to wake up the werewolf. Instead, with a sneaky grin, Zack took a marker pen that had been on the table and walked up to the club president. Using the gentlest stokes in order to not wake him up, Zack drew a moustache and beard on the boy's face before adding an ink monocle and cat whiskers. Finally, he wrote the words 'I'm a mutt' on Gin's head.

The others giggled at the trick before deciding it was time to leave. Christian woke up Gin, neglecting to reveal the fact he now had ink all over his face, quickly prompting the older student to leave in a flash. The other five member left at their own pace, Christian locking the door behind them with the key Ms. Nekonome had left them earlier. As the five walked away, chatting about how exciting it would be to complete their first newspaper, they had failed to notice a certain green haired, sweaty boy hiding in the shadows, a sinister smirk plastering his features.

As the boy approached the door, he began to talk to himself. "You took something precious from me…" He said as his body began to transform. "Now I'm going to return the favour."

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The next morning the members of the Newspaper Club came in early in order to finish of their first ever edition of the 'Yokai Times'. However, when they walked in, the members of the club were in for quite a shock.

"AHHHH!" Moka screamed, her hands on her face as she looked to the now empty space where the newspaper draft had once been. "The draft we made yesterday! It's gone!"

"What?!" Kurumu cried, running to Moka's side, a look of absolute terror on her face. "But it was here yesterday before he left!"

"Someone must have taken it." Zack commented, looking extremely angry.

"But how would they have gotten in?" Christian asked. "The door was locked."

"It's not just the draft!" Yukari called out, drawing everyone's attention. "The virtual copy I made has been deleted from my computer! And the back-ups been taken!" Suddenly the young witch let out a massive gasp. "MY DIARY'S BEEN OPENED!"

"Your Diary?!" Moka and Kurumu cried together in disbelief.

Gin smashed his hands on to his desk in frustration, still not realising he had marker pen on his face. "Damn it! We don't have time to look for the guy who took it! We'll have to start over! We will just cut down the number of pages and-"

"I know who did this."

Everyone's attention was turned to Christian who was standing by Yukari's computer, rubbing a strange substance that was in-between his thumb and index finger. "And this time…We're not going easy on him…"

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Nagare watched three approaching figures with a smile of glee as he once again sat in the branches of the monster tree. As they drew closer, the boy's eyes lit up with a vengeful fire, he had been waiting in anticipation for this moment for several hours now. He longed for the moment where he could see these people beg him for mercy for how they humiliated him.

Christian, Zack and Kurumu walked straight up to monster tree, their expressions shrouded by their hair. Standing at the base of the massive tree, the three teens were motionless, waiting for their enemy to make his move.

"I'd knew you guys would come." Nagare's slimy voice sounded from the tree. The boy held up the newspaper draft he had taken from the previous night as well as the back-up disk from Yukari's computer. Suddenly, all three of the teen's eyes turned sharp as they glared at the sweaty boy. "You know, this paper was really disappointing." Nagare commented, adding wood to the fire. "The writing is amateurish and even I could do better illustrations than this." He mocked as he took a lighter out of his pocket and wafted it close to the draft but not so close that it would burn it. "So what's it worth to you lot?" He asked, his face practically glowing with glee. "If you people want to save it then you had better do whatever I tell you to."

"Screw you…" Christian's voice sounded defiantly, causing Nagare to flinch by the harshness in the boys tone.

"Do you honestly think that after all you've done we're going to let you get away with threatening us?" Kurumu asked furiously.

"Nagare, I swear you are going to pay for what you have done to me and my friends." Zack added, sending the boy in the tree a death glare. "You can make it better for yourself if you hand over the draft…now."

For one brief moment, Nagare actually looked worried before he realised that he still had the upper hand. "If you come anywhere near me, I'll burn this paper that you're so desperate for. I know you won't hurt me as long as I-"

Nagare was interrupted by a sudden green flash and all of a sudden he had been knocked out of the tree, the newspaper draft and back up disappearing from his grasp. Nagare hit the ground with a harsh thump, looking up with just enough time to see XLR8 standing in between his friends, the objects that he had stolen in the alien's claws.

Looking to his friend's, XLR8 said, "I'm taking these back to the club, you guys take care of Nagare. I'll be back in a minute after I make sure these are safely with the others."

"Got it, this'll be over by the time you get back." Zack commented, already walking towards the fallen Nagare."

"Yeah, we'll see you when this is over." Kurumu added, flashing XLR8 a loving smile before she moved to follow Zack.

Nodding, XLR8 dashed off towards the school in order to deliver the precious news draft. As Zack and Kurumu got closer to Nagare, the sweat covered boys began to get worry. However he still had his ace in the hole. Suddenly Nagare's skin turned a tinge of sickly green as two ugly, tendril like vines shot out of his neck and began to expel a strange gas.

Both Zack and Kurumu grimaced at the ugly sight of the things coming out of Nagare's neck. "Dude, you were ugly before but this just takes the cake." Zack commented.

"Yeah, total bad makeover." Kurumu agreed, almost gaging at the horrendous sight.

"You haven't seen anything yet." Nagare said with a smirk as his body began to shift and transform. His skin changing in to a disgusting green, his body losing its shape as it started sagging like all the bones the boy's body had disappeared. The eyes in Nagare's head suddenly stuck out on stalks and his teeth spread apart. Nagare's body now towered above Zack and Kurumu as it began to secrete a strange slime that slid down his body. The green gas was still being expelled from the tendril like structures on what had been the boy's neck. Nagare was a Mad Slug monster and the very sight of Nagare's true form made the two teens in front of him want to be sick.

"Gross!" Kurumu exclaimed, covering her mouth. "Figures you would find a way to make yourself even more disgusting." The succubus couldn't place it, but for some reason she felt her strength being sapped by the second. _'What's wrong with me?' _Kurumu asked herself, doing her best to appear defiant.

The slug monster in front of the two cackled at the two teens. "I may be disgusting, but I'm still the guy who's going to kill both of you and the Gaijin when he returns!"

"And just how do you plan on doing that?" Zack asked, getting into a fighting stance. "You don't exactly look like the most able fighter and I know both of us are stronger than you." His words were strong but his posture was lacking. Like Kurumu, Zack was beginning to feel weaker.

Once again, Nagare laughed manically. "Oh I don't need to fight you…I just need to last long enough for you to be too weak to fight back."

"What are you-" Zack began before realising exactly what Nagare was talking about. Taking out a pack of tissue from his coat, he took one out and used it to cover his mouth before moving to Kurumu and giving her one as well. "Kurumu, you need to cover your mouth with this now!" He commanded.

Sensing the urgency in his voice, Kurumu automatically did what Zack had told her too although she didn't understand the purpose. "Why?" She asked, her voice slightly muffled through the tissue.

"Look around us!" Zack cried, gesturing to the gas that had surrounded them. "The gas this guy's expelling is poisoning us! If we don't take this guy out quickly, we won't even be able to move!"

Kurumu gasped, a bad idea when you're trying not to breath in the gas which is slowly poisoning you, and nodded in understanding.

"You're a smart one aren't you, Orion?" Nagare mocked, his twisted smile ever present on his face. "But you're only delaying the inevitable."

Zack turned to the slug monster and scowled at him from underneath the tissue covering his mouth. "I promised Bro I would take you down before he got back and that's what I'm gonna do!" Suddenly, Zack dashed forward and attempted to kick Nagare only for his foot to bounce off. Doing a small flip in the air in order to regain his balance, Zack began performing a series of kicks and punches with his free hand to try and hurt Nagare. However it was to no avail. Nagare's body just absorbed the blows with a sickening squelch. _'It's. Like. I'm. Hitting. A sponge_.' Zack angrily in-between each attack. Pulling out his hand from Nagare's body fat, Zack was disgusted to find it was covered in the slime secreted from the slug monsters body. "That's just nasty." Zack commented, waving his hand to get the slime off.

Just as Zack began concentrating again, Nagare used on of his massive green arms to bat Zack away. "Take that!" the slug like monster shouted victoriously as he watched Zack roll next to Kurumu.

The succubus in question automatically moved to check on her friend. "Are you alright?" she asked worriedly.

"Nothing hurt but my pride." Zack replied with a false smirk. "Physical attacks are out of the question. His body just absorbs the blows." He explained, struggling to stand up.

"So what do you suggest we do?"

Zack shrugged his shoulders. "Use salt?" He suggested, causing Kurumu to fall over anime style.

"THAT'S NOT HELPFUL!" The succubus cried, forgetting that she was trying not to breath in the poisonous gas that was surrounding them. Kurumu began to panicking, Nagare's poison made him too much to handle. Kurumu knew she was too weak to even stand on her own legs and Zack didn't look like he was fairing any better. Closing her eyes, Kurumu said a silent prayer that someone would save them.

Kurumu was answered by the temperature of the environment around her getting several degrees colder, however the weird thing was that it felt familiar. Kurumu opened her eyes to be welcomed with the sight of Big Chill standing in front of her and Zack, his wings folding back into a cloak.

"Christian!" Kurumu cried in utter relief, looking happily at the boy.

"Sorry I'm late." Big Chill said to his friends, ignoring the death glare Nagare was sending him. "I ran in to a teacher on the way to the club and told her what was happening." He explained. "She will be here soon with a bunch of other teachers to take Nagare in." Hearing that, the slug monster in question actually flinched.

"What!?" He exclaimed, looking around as if the teachers were going to ascend on him at any second.

"Until then, we have this guy to ourselves." Big Chill continued, sending the best smirk Big Chill was able to manage at Nagare.

"I like the sound of that." Zack admitted, getting to his feet warily.

Same here." Kurumu added, finding the determination to get up on to her legs.

Nagare looked at the three teens worriedly, however it quickly dissipated when he realised that he could still win and get away if he continued to poison them. "You think you can stop me!? Take this!" He shouted as he sent a blast of poison gas at the three standing before him.

Despite the attack, Big Chill merely smirked as he opened his wings and began flapping them repeatedly, creating a gust that dissipated the gas cloud into the wind. Nagare stood still, stunned his attack had failed. "Is that all you've got?" Big Chill asked mockingly. "I'm not impressed."

Nagare growled at the Big Chill in response. "That was only a small amount of the gas that I create. Have a taste…of the whole cloud!" Nagare cried, using his tendrils to expel a ridiculous amount of gas.

Once again, Big Chill flapped his wings repeatedly dispelling the cloud easily enough. "Still not impressed." The alien moth man commented.

"This guy was actually beating us earlier?" Kurumu commented.

"Hard to believe, isn't it?" Zack said sarcastically. "What's the plan, Bro?"

"I'm going to stop this guy from spurting out that poison" Big Chill began to explain. "You lay the hurt."

"I love that plan!" Zack cried, already ready for action as he pounded his fists together.

"If it means I can pummel this guy for what he's put me through, I'm in." Kurumu replied, releasing her wings and tail. However, the succubus quickly realised something. "How are we supposed to hit him? His body just absorbs every attack."

"Leave that to me." Big Chill replied, taking to the air and flying above Nagare's disgusting form. "I think you need to cool off." The alien said with a smirk as he inhaling before sending a wave of freezing cold air at Nagare, causing the Mad Slug to flinch.

As Big Chill's attack washed over him, Nagare began to shiver like crazy however he found that he wasn't frozen. "Wh-what w-was that su-supposed to do?" He asked mockingly, thinking Big Chill was too weak to freeze him.

"I told you…" Big chill replied from the air, his arms crossed, "Cool you off."

Nagare was confused by the comment but barely had any time to think about it before he felt someone round house kick him across the face, causing the monster to begin to topple over before he felt another painful blow to his gut, sending Nagare flying backwards. The slug monster moved one of his eyestalks wearily to see Zack standing a few meters away from him, a victorious expression on his face. However what surprised Nagare was the fact that the attack had actually hurt him. Looking back up towards Big Chill, who was still floating above him; he shouted, "What did you do to me?!"

"I simply cooled you off, froze the slime your body was secreting, making your body harder so that physical attacks will actually work." Big Chill listed using his pointed fingers.

Nagare's eyes widened in fear when he realised what that meant, however before he could do anything, Kurumu flew into the air and dive bombed him, turning mid-air so that her feet struck Nagare in the back, causing the boy to face plant into the ground. Quickly retreating back to her friend, Kurumu and Zack high fived each other knowing that they now had the upper hand.

Nagare on the other hand had gone back to panicking. Ever since the Gaijin had shown up he had been losing. Now he needed to run, if he didn't get away quickly then he would most likely be expelled. Resorting to try and use his poison gas as a smokescreen, Nagare tried to spurt out some more of the toxic gas. However, he found himself unable to. Looking down towards his tendrils, Nagare was shocked to see that they were now encased in ice.

"Sorry about that." Big Chill smirked, appearing in front of the Mad Slug. "But I have always believed one should say it, not spray it."

Nagare stared at the alien in shock, too stunned to say anything. Big Chill smirked as he reached for the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. Tapping it, the moth like alien disappeared in emerald light. When it faded, the blue alien had been replaced with a new form. It was a humanoid, plant like alien who had an overall green and black body. The alien's head was flame like and his feet were root like and appeared to be holding black rocks. Red petals were sprouting out of his shoulders and smaller green seedlings were sprouting on his lower arms. The Omnitrix symbol was positioned in the centre of his chest. "Swampfire!" the new alien cried in a nasally like voice. Before Nagare had time to do anything, Swampfire had already punched him in the face, sending the boy back several meters.

Zack and Kurumu then ran forwards and tag teamed Nagare. The pair jumped together and kicked the slimy slug in its centre, once again sending the boy flying back until he hit the side of the monster tree with a loud crack, knocking the slug out. Zack and Kurumu ran back to Swampfire in order to regroup, however when they got close, the two teens were forced to cover their noses from the stench that Swampfire was emitting. "Dude! You reek!" Zack shouted, covering his nose.

"Sorry about that, it's just Swampfire's natural musk." The plant alien explained, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Thank god you don't smell like that all the time." Kurumu commented, taking one step away from Swampfire.

"Can we talk about this later?" Swampfire asked, gesturing towards Nagare. "We still have him to deal with."

Nodding, the three teens began walking towards the limp figure of Nagare, angry expressions on their faces. Once they were right in front of the downed slug, Zack brought Nagare back into the land of the living with a swift right hook to the face.

"Huh!? What happened!?" Nagare cried as he woke up to see the three teens in front of him. Before he could do anything, Swampfire threw some of the seedlings from his arms to the ground just at Nagare's mollusc like foot. The seedlings automatically took root, ensnaring Nagare and trapping him. "Let me go!" Nagare shouted, struggling against the vines in vain.

"Yeaahh…I don't think so." Zack commented, rolling his eyes.

"As if we'd let you go after all you've done." Kurumu added, glaring harshly at the Mad Slug.

Swampfire nodded, tapping on the Omnitrix symbol and reverting back into Christian. "You're stuck here now so you may as well answer a few questions."

"Why should I answer anything you have to say?" Nagare spat, looking at the three with pure hatred.

"Because things can get very uncomfortable for you if you don't." Zack threatened, grabbing a hold of one of Nagare's eye stalks and moving it so that the Mad Slug was looking Zack in the eye to show he was serious.

Deciding that it would be better for his health if he actually answered the three's questions, Nagare gave in, nodding his head resignation. "What do you want to know?"

"How did you get into the club room last night?" Christian asked. "I'm sure I locked it last night when we left."

Nagare smirked at his accomplishment before answering. "I'm a Mad Slug you idiot! Like real slugs, we are able to fit through the smallest cracks. It come in handy when you are trying to discover girl's deepest darkest secrets."

The eyes of the Newspaper Club members narrowed when they heard the last part of Nagare's explanation. "What was that?" Zack demanded through gritted teeth, his anger beginning to flare.

"I use that ability to discover girl's secrets." Nagare repeated, turning to look at Kurumu. "And out of everyone I have spied on, you by far have been my favourite…sweet Kurumu." The succubus in question grimaced at the smug tone in Nagare's voice. "Perhaps I should tell your beloved Christian some of your…secrets." He suggested, causing Kurumu to gasp.

"You wouldn't." She snarled, her eyes becoming extremely fierce, her aura beginning to flare.

"Oh, I would." Nagare returned, turning towards Christian and Zack who were glaring at him angrily. "Did you know that your little succubus here has an obsession with-" Nagare was cut off by the sensation of the ground beginning to shake erratically. The slug monster's eyes widened with fear as he watched the roots of the monster tree shoot out of the ground rise menacingly above him.

Christian and Zack's jaws dropped, completely aghast that the monster tree was actually moving. They looked over to Kurumu who was now trembling with anger, her wings and tail bursting out as her face contorted with utter hatred. "**You…will…never…tell them…ANYTHING!" **The succubus shouted as she flapped her wings and flew straight up in to the air. All at once, the monster tree began to move; its bark twisting into a horrifying face that drove Nagare to slime himself.

It was a miracle that Christian and Zack hadn't fainted from fear. "There is absolutely no way this is happening." Christian murmured, utterly flabbergasted by what was going on in front of him.

"You're right…" Zack replied, still staring at the spectacle. "I think this is one of Kurumu's succubus powers." He explained. "Powerful Succubae have the ability to create illusions so realistic that they can drive a person insane."

"Wow…" Christian remarked, looking back to an extremely pissed of Kurumu, whose eyes were glowing amethyst. "Who knew she was that powerful."

"I know what you mean." Zack agreed, seeing Kurumu in a whole new light.

Back with Nagare, the slimy teen was struggling against the plant vines that were holding him, desperately trying to get away from the humungous tree that was ready to attack him. "PLEASE! STOP! I'M SORRY! I'LL DO ANYTHING! JUST DON'T HURT ME!" his pleas fell on deaf ears as Kurumu ordered the tree to attack Nagare.

"This is for every girl you have ever messed with!" Kurumu shouted as the tree seemingly picked up Nagare and devoured the squealing boy whole.

All at once, the area around the Christian, Zack and Kurumu began to revert back to normal. The Monster Tree's roots returned to the ground and re-rooted themselves. The tree's features reverted back to normal as the tree went back to its normal position. Once everything was back to where it should have been, the three teens were able to make out Nagare's limp figure, still trapped in Swampfire's vines. However, Nagare was now fully unconscious, his eyes closed tightly as he moaned in agony from the nightmare that was most likely plaguing him.

Kurumu descended quickly to her friends and fell to her knees, exhausted from letting out so much power at once. "I did it…" She breathed out tiredly. "It's over…"

Christian smiled as he walked over and helped the succubus up to her feet giving her a warm smile. "Well done, Kurumu. You did great." He complimented. "It's a good thing you're on our side."

Kurumu blushed slightly before pulling Christian into a massive hug. "I did it all for you, you know." She told him, winking despite the fact Christian was unable to see it.

"Yeah, it has nothing to do with the fact Nagare was about blurt out an embarrassing secret." Zack deadpanned, sweat dropping slightly.

In return, Kurumu stuck out her tongue at Zack childishly as she continued to suffocate Christian. The three members of the Newspaper Club remained by the side of Nagare for a few more minutes until the teachers arrived to take Nagare away. Of course, they had to take the boy to the school infirmary in order to snap him out of his endless nightmare.

Once Nagare had been taken away, the three Newspaper Club members returned to their club room so that they could finish of their newspaper together. After hours of hard work, Ms. Nekonome walked into the room to discover the members of the club fast asleep. Moka was asleep next to Christian with Kurumu and Yukari were opposite them lying down on the joint tables sleeping peacefully. The finished newspaper lay between them. Smiling happily as she picked it up, the cat like teacher looked down happily at her students, ignoring the snoring Gin who had his feet up at the desk; the ink from earlier still on his face. _'Rest up you guys and leave the rest to me.' _Suddenly, Ms. Nekonome realised someone was missing from the room. _'Where's Mr. Orion?'_

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Zack stood alone in the middle of a clearing in the forest behind the school. Looking behind him he called out, "You can come out, I know you're there!"

For a moment, nothing happened. However, Zack was quickly able to make out the figure of Keito walking out of the darkness, a cruel smirk on her face. "It's good to see you again, Orion." Keito greeted, doing a bad job of hiding the venom in her voice.

"The feeling isn't mutual." Zack growled, desperately wanting to get his own back for her throwing him off a roof. Unfortunately, Zack knew picking a fight with this woman would be a bad idea. Not because he didn't think he could take her, but because of what might follow. "I just wanted to let you know I've made my decision." He told the purple haired girl.

"So, are you going to join the Security Committee?" Keito asked, already expecting what the answer would be. No monster would give up the chance to be a member of their committee.

"No." Zack answered simply, turning and began to walk off.

Keito's jaw dropped by the impertinence of Zack as she found herself unable to speak due to her shock. Finally she managed to stammer out, "Wh-what!? You dare to turn down such an honour!? Do you have any idea how many people would kill just to be a member of the enforcers!?"

"I don't and I honestly don't care." Zack replied, stopping and turning to face the angry Keito. "I don't think you guys are right for me." He explained. "I'd rather stay with my friends."

His response did nothing to calm to enforcers rage as she glared at Zack. "You would choose those newspaper rats over us?!"

"Quite frankly, yes!" Zack returned. "And if you ever insult my friends again, I won't hesitate to take you down."

Suddenly, Keito began to laugh in complete amusement. "You honestly think that you could take me down in a fight? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"

"You wanna test that theory?" Zack growled. "You may find yourself surprised."

Keito sent Zack a disbelieving smirk, not even bothering to give him the time of day. "I don't think so. You don't want to go to Yokai Academy's hospital now, do you?" The purple haired girl turned and began to walk back into the shadows. "As I said before, you will learn soon enough that your so called friends aren't good enough for you. You'll come crawling to us eventually." With that, the purple haired girl disappeared within the trees, leaving no trace that she had been there.

Zack scowled in the direction Keito had left, never wanting to see the girl again. "Yeah right, as if that would ever happen." He muttered angrily, finally deciding it was time to go. "I have faith in my friends, and I will go through hell itself before I allow anyone to harm them, even if I'm driven to the edge of insanity."

**And there you go. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. It wasn't my best work but it's the best I could do with the time limit I'm on. I am sorry to say that this is going to be the last update for a while as I am going to focus on my revision for my exams. I will return to writing once they end in June. Until then I hope you can understand my reasons. **

**I will make it up by writing a long chapter next. It's going to be packed with action involving Khyber, the Nemetrix predators and another threat that will lead up to the battle with the enforcers. I hope you are looking forward to it as much as I am to writing it. As always, please leave your reviews as I like to know what you enjoyed and what I could do better. **

**So for now, I won't say goodbye but simply farewell and see you next time. **


	10. Chapter 9

**AN: Hey everyone, this is a prequel to the next chapter. I'm posting this now as I realised that the chapter I'm writing was going to go other the word limit I've set myself so that you guys don't get bored continuously reading. The next chapter is almost finished. I should have it done in a few hours. For now enjoy this, the main part is on the way.**

**Important: The first part of this chapter begins on the day Nagare stole the Newspaper draft in the last chapter.**

**"..." Speech**

**'...' Quote**

**'Hi' Thought**

**"Learn your place!" Inner Moka through Rosario**

**Prime Feedback =Ben**

**Feedback= Christian**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC, everything else belongs to their own creators.**

**Alien Watch in a Monster School**

Before the Storm

Bellwood 11:30pm

Night had long since fallen over the town of Bellwood. The citizens safely dosing in their beds, blissfully unaware of the large, cloaked alien spaceship flying slowly hundreds of meters above them. The ship moved undetected through the streets towards its destination. A small, cream coloured building on outskirts of the town. On the side of the building, stamped in red and blue, were the words 'Max's plumbing', the word plumbing being made to look like it had been spelt out using drain pipes. On the top of the building there was a sign that once again said the shops name and an image depicting a man with grey hair, a red Hawaiian shirt and white trousers leaning on a large wrench.

Once the ship was directly above the establishment, it decreased its altitude until it was hovering only fifty meters from the ground. Suddenly, a small port hole on the bottom of the ship opened wide enough for a cloaked figure to jump from the ship, using a harness to him so that he wouldn't plummet to his death. As soon as the figure had touched the floor of the roof he unattached the harness from the belt he was wearing and made his way over to a rather large ventilation shaft on the right of the roof. Carefully the figure removed the vent grate so that he could slide feet first into the vent.

The figure fell five metres before using the clawed gauntlets he was wearing to dig into the sides of the shaft in order to stop himself from crashing through another grate at the bottom of the vent shaft. Using one of the gauntlets to keep himself pried to the side of the metal wall, the figure use his other hand to reach for another gadget on his belt, a small cylindrical device no bigger than a pen. Pressing the tip, the device shot out a small red laser that began burning a hole in the metal around the grate. Once he had cut around most of the object, the figure reached down and dislodged the grate from the metal around it and pulled it up towards him. Using a knife strapped to his side, the figure pinned the grate to the wall before relieving pressure on the gauntlets allowing him to slide down closer to the new opening. However, just before falling through it, the figure once again dug his gauntlets further in to the wall and brought himself to another stop.

Taking another gadget from his belt which appeared to be a small grey pellet with a spray nozzle in the side, the figure reached his hand down through the hole and pressed the top of the pellet, spraying a cloud a gas in to the room below. Almost instantly, red beams of light became visible to the figure. From the air vent, the figure smirked. "Childs play." He proclaimed as he allowed himself to drop into the room below. He landed gracefully in between the path of two laser that he just barely missed. Slowly, the figure careened his head allowing his blood red eyes to take in his surroundings. The shop interior may have been dark but tables of plumbing equipment was still visible and easy to make out. The red beams struck the furniture at odd angles however there did appear to be a pattern. Deciding his course of action, the figure allowed himself to fall back and use his arms to propel himself around the beams. After a series flips, the figure came to a door that claimed to lead to the employee bathroom. Flicking the index finger on his gauntleted hand to reveal a lock pick, the figure began to work on unlocking the door which he knew from experience was locked.

Upon hearing a faint click, the figure opened the door and came face to face with a dimly lit bathroom. A sneer appearing on his darkened features, the figure took out a small gadget attached to the back of his belt. This gadget was shaped like a normal, bronze, mask except it had a series of complex circuitry running on the inside of it. As soon as the mask was secured on his face, a small wave of blue energy swept over the figure, changing his appearance. The figure now appeared to be a seventeen year old human teen with brown, messy hair and green eyes. He was wearing a white hoodie with green seems, the number ten was present on the left side. He also wore brown trousers with pockets and white and brown trainers. On his wrist was a primarily white wrist watch with green highlights and a black faceplate.

Acting quickly so that he didn't have to look like the one he despised more than anyone else, the figure moved to pull on the chain that hung from the ceiling. Almost automatically, there was a small beep and a small circular compartment in the wall opened to reveal a retinal scanner. Taking a breath moment to compose himself, the figure moved his eye so that it was directly in front of the scanner. After a small beam of green light moved over the organ there was a small beep and a synthesized female voice announced, "Recognised: Benjamin Kirby Tennyson."

A wave a relief washed over 'Ben'. He was both pleased and surprised that his new partner/client had been able to program his ID mask so that it could fool Plumber scanners or even how he'd managed to acquire the real Ben's genetic details. 'Ben' was brought out of his thoughts when he felt the ground beneath him begin to move. Looking down, he noticed that the area of the floor he was standing on begin to sink into the ground. Remaining composed 'Ben' waited as he sunk several feet by what he assumed was an elevator. Finally, the feeling of descent stopped and a pair of doors opened to reveal a massive control room filled with both humans and an assortment of aliens, the only similarity between any of them being the white and black armour/uniform they wore.

'Ben' walked out of the elevator cautiously but casually as he tried not to bring suspicion upon himself. He had broken in to the plumber base before but not once had he just walked in through the front door. Quickly, 'Ben' made his way towards a doorway on the left of the control room, acknowledging plumbers who greeted him with a nod as he passed them. He had no idea if this was how Tennyson acted when in the Plumber base but as no one seemed suspicious of him so he kept walking.

After a series of twists and turns, 'Ben' came to his destination. The Plumber evidence lock up. Placing 'his' hand on the scanner, the door opened for him, once again announcing 'Ben's' arrival. 'Ben' knew he needed to act quickly, the Plumbers would be alerted that he was in the room and would send someone to check on what he was doing.

The evidence lockup was a cylindrical room with multiple draws running along the walls all the way up the ceiling. Smirking, 'Ben' moved towards his first target. Finding the right draw, 'Ben' opened up the draw to see his quarry in the centre. In the draw was a device that was hexagonal in shape, the faceplate on the front was coloured silver with a red symbol made to look like an open mouth with sharp teeth. This device was the Nemetrix. A knock off of Azmuth's prototype Omnitrix which was designed to turn the user into the predators of the aliens in the Omnitrix. 'Ben' moved his hand to his side where a small energy fluctuation revealed a small section of his true self which was a pouch on his belt. Opening the pouch, 'Ben' took out a small cylinder and placed it on top of the Nemetrix. The device let out a small beep before a multitude of silhouettes that depicted different alien creatures appeared in between the red part of the device. Once the Silhouettes had stopped cycling, red circuitry lines moved across device, editing its coding and commands. After a few moments, the circuit like lines disappeared and the Nemetrix returned to normal, the cylinder disintegrating once the reprogramming was complete.

Smirking, 'Ben' placed the Nemetrix at his side before moving along the wall to a second draw, only this one was much larger than the one that housed the Nemetrix. Opening it up, 'Ben' came face to face with a robot that had a blank, spherical face and an almost completely white body. It had a red U shape on the front and back of its torso and a red patch on the groin, elbow, knee and ankle joints. This was a Bioid that had managed to miraculously survive the explosion of the warship belonging to Vilgax the Conqueror. The Plumbers had managed to salvage it when they had been looking for the squid headed warlord. It had been in the evidence lock up ever since.

'Ben' once again opened the pouch and took out a second chip that was red in colour with gold circuitry. With his free hand, 'Ben' pressed on the centre of the red U on the Bioid's chest causing it to open up and reveal a mesh of circuitry. 'Ben' placed the red chip in the centre of the other circuitry. Almost automatically demonic red lines spread out from the chip and spread across the Bioid. Suddenly, the access hatch on the Bioid closed and the robot sprung to life. Rising from the draw, the Bioid turned to face its new master. 'Ben' was honestly surprised that the chip had worked. When his partner/client had told him this would happen, he honestly didn't believe him. However he had been paid to do a job and had been promised a new and prosperous hunt and that was something he couldn't resist. He was pleased to know that this plan had succeeded.

No sooner had his thought ended did the alarms begin to blare. 'Ben' recoiled in shock as he realised he was out of time. Turning to face the Bioid, he took the Nemetrix from his belt and placed it in the middle of the red U and ordered, "Droid, follow me." The Bioid nodded in response and hoisted itself out of the draw and on to the floor next to 'Ben'. "We have to leave before-"

"Before what?" A gravelly voice inquired from behind him.

Startled, 'Ben' turned towards the voice only to be met with a ball of intense flame. 'Ben' was forced to take a step back, the circuitry in the ID mask melting automatically. In order to prevent any burns, 'Ben' was forced to discard the remains of mask from his face. Automatically, the deception faded and 'Ben' returned to his true form, the hooded figure who had broken in. Looking up from underneath the cloak, the figure saw a humanoid flaming rock alien with an hourglass symbol on his chest as well as a tall cat like humanoid male alien with periwinkle-blue fur, black markings on his face, and pointed ears. The middle of his face was white and he was clad in what appeared to be durable blue and black armour. In his arms was a high tech blaster that he was pointing directly at the figures cloaked face.

"By order of the Plumbers, you are under arrest for breaking in to a Plumber facility and the attempted theft of Plumber evidence!" The blue cat like alien announced looking defiantly at the figure. "You have the right to remain silent!"

"Give it a rest Rook." The fire alien deadpanned, placing his left hand on his hip and waving his right lazily. "This guy didn't break into Plumber HQ just to give up when he meets a little opposition."

Hearing this, the cloaked figure couldn't help but chuckle. "Very perceptive, Tennyson." He said with eerie tone that was strangely familiar to the two Plumbers.

"That voice…" Rook began.

"It can't be…" Prime Heatblast continued.

"What?" The figure asked, removing his cloak in one fluid motion to reveal what he truly looked like. "Didn't expect to see me again so soon?" Underneath the cloak the figure wore a black suit that covered his upper body with a red stripe in the middle and grey bottoms. His high-tech grey gauntlets and belt shone in the light Heatblast was giving off. He also wore black boots with grey soles that had claws facing upwards on them. The bones of various alien animals were worn as ornaments over his clothes including the skull of a horned beast on his left shoulder. The only part of his face that was exposed was his face which was turquoise in colour and looked like a skull. The alien's eyes were blood red and he possessed gills under his cheeks.

"Khyber!" the pair of Plumbers shouted together.

"Your powers of observation are astounding." Khyber said sarcastically as he stood proudly in front of the pair, weighing his options.

"You will not escape this time Khyber!" Rook declared. "This time, you will go where you rightfully belong! A Plumber holding cell!"

"Yeah!" Prime Heatblast agreed. "Because this time, you don't have any pet to protect yourself!"

Scarily, Khyber smiled and started chuckling again. "Hunting with a real animal has its draw backs." He admitted, moving so that the Plumbers could see the Nemetrix enhanced Bioid.

"A Bioid?!" Prime Heatblast cried, he clearly had no idea there had been one in the locker.

"You really didn't know there was one in here?" Rook questioned, turning his face towards his partner for the briefest of moments.

"You know I don't look at paper work." Prime Heatblast countered.

"If you'll excuse me," Khyber interrupted, catching both of the Plumber's attentions. "I'll be leaving now."

"You're not going anywhere Khyber!" Prime Heatblast announced. "From what I remember, the Bioids are synced to the prototype Omnitrix, which has been destroyed. Too bad for you."

Once again, Khyber merely chuckled. This was going to be better than he expected. "You should stop living in the past." He declared, pressing a button on his new gauntlets which caused the Nemetrix to beep. "It's not good for you." He said with a smirk as the Bioid raced forward, its appearance morphing as it ran. In an explosion of dust, Prime Heatblast and Rook were thrown against the wall of the corridor.

Both recovering quickly, they looked up to see a huge, dark purplely-grey, rock-based life form with a crab-like body and a rhino-like face standing in the wreckage of what had once been the evidence locker. It had six crab-like legs that had spikes sticking out. A large horn protruded from the creatures head whilst devilish red eyes that stared at Prime Heatblast hungrily. Around its neck was a red collar with the Nemetrix in the centre. This was a Crabdozer, Heatblast's natural predator.

Khyber walked out from behind the beast and petted its side in admiration. "Stunning isn't it. This will be the finest tool in my arsenal. Unlike those other mistakes, this Bioid has no free mind of its own, no pitiful emotions to dull its effectiveness in the middle of the hunt. And most importantly, without a mind of its own, unless I give it an order, the Bioid will be operating entirely on the DNA's natural, hunting, instincts. It cannot be tired, it cannot not be afraid and it will not show remorse."

Defiantly, Prime Heatblast returned to his feet. "I'm not letting you leave this base with the Nemetrix or that Bioid, Khyber!" He declared.

"He shouldn't be leaving the base at all." Rook pointed out, giving Prime Heatblast a confused look.

Despite being on fire anyone could see that the Pyronite had sweat dropped. "That was implied, Rook." He sighed.

"As entertaining as this is, I have an appointment I have to keep." Khyber sighed, ignoring the theatrics between the partners. "Now if you excuse me, I have to go."

"Remain still Khyber!" Rook ordered, aiming his blaster at the hunter. "I order that you deactivate the Bioid and hand yourself over to the Plumbers."

For the first time since they discovered him, Khyber frowned. "You are in no position to be making demands." He said before turning towards the stationary Crabdozer besides him. "Bioid! Attack!"

With a roar, the rock like behemoth charged forward taking the Plumbers by surprise. Rook was lucky, jumping out of the way just in time. Prime Heatblast on the other hand wasn't so lucky. He had been unfortunate enough to be on the full end of the attack meaning that the rhino like crab had tackled him with enough force to send boy turned alien through the wall, who was swiftly followed by the rampaging rhino like predator.

Rook, who was now on the floor looking at the damage caused by attack, turned his head towards Khyber, who was standing by the wreckage of the evidence lock up with a smirk on his face. Swiftly, Rook moved his blaster towards the hunter, a fierce look in his eye.

Khyber on the other hand merely gave him a side glance. "Don't you think you should be helping Tennyson?" He asked, smirking as he spoke.

"Ben can look after himself." Rook defended, having faith in his partner.

"Maybe against a normal Crabdozer…" Khyber began. "But what were to happen if said Crabdozer were to suddenly…evolve?" He finished, raising one of gauntlets and placing one of his fingers on a button at the side.

"You wouldn't?" Rook challenged, glaring a hole in to Khyber's chest.

"Do you really want to test me?" Khyber counted with a smirk, pressing the button automatically. "I'd suggest you go and help your friend now." The huntsman told the Plumber as he turned and walked away knowing exactly what Rook would do, in the meantime he to set the next part of the plan in motion.

The Revonnahgander in question continued to point his blaster at Khyber for a few more seconds before letting out a growl of frustration and turning and running after his partner who he was sure was currently in the fight of his life.

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Crabdozer continued to charge through several more of the Plumber HQ walls, Prime Heatblast being used as a battering ram on the charging creature's snout. The alien rhino finally stopped charging when it came in to the Plumber training room, a large, spacious, domed shape room that had several Plumbers training at the time when Crabdozer broke in, each one now aiming a standard plumber blaster at it. The sudden stop in momentum sent the Pyronite skidding across the floor bringing him to a stop in front of the other Plumbers.

"Sir, are you okay?" One of the Plumbers asked Prime Heatblast with concern.

"I'm good, let's focus on bringing this guy down though." The Pyronite stated getting to his feet. "Don't worry though, now that I'm focused, this guy is going-" The Omnitrix symbol on Prime Heatblast's chest began to beep before in a flash of green, the alien reverted back in to a teenage boy wearing a black t-shirt with a green stripe running down the middle, the number ten in the centre. "-down…" Ben finished beginning to panic as the other Plumbers sweat dropped. "This can't get any worse." Ben whined.

A sudden series of beeping brought the attention of the Plumbers to the Crabdozer in front of them. The Nemetrix was beeping rapidly before the alien rock rhino began to morph again. The predator grew several feet and the front section of its body bending back until it now stood on four legs. The front half of the body elongated and the head bent down to look at the horrified Plumbers with evil red eyes, its horn growing larger and more menacing as it did. What had once been the creature's front legs fattened and split into pincers, three cannons forming in each pincer. Its base increased in length allowing the four legs it had left more room to move and also balanced out the predator so that it wouldn't fall, a lobster like tail growing at the end. The Nemetrix was still in the centre of the collar which was around the creature's neck.

The Plumbers looked up at the now fifteen foot tall alien predator and began shaking. Most had never seen a creature that big before with the exception of Ben when he transformed in to his To'kustar form. Ben himself was staring wide eyed at the monster, praying that his Omnitrix would recharge quickly so he could go hero. Keeping his frustrations to himself, Ben settled for rallying the other Plumbers "Don't be afraid!" He cried. "Aim for the Collar, if it comes off then the Bioid will change back to normal!"

"That's the Bioid!?" One of the Plumbers cried.

"Did everyone know that was here but me?!" Ben cried, annoyed at his own ignorance. "It doesn't matter. Hold that thing off until the Omnitrix recharges! We can still win this!"

The other plumbers cheered as they rushed forward, aiming their blasters at the collar, hoping that they could break it. Unfortunately, the evolved predator had other plans, opening one of its pincers, the creature fired out a high pressure jet of water at the attacking Plumbers, knocking most of them out with a single blast. Suddenly, the creatures attack ceased and the cannons on its pincer revolved around until they had spun one rotation clockwise. The next attack sent out several blasts of red energy missiles that took out the remaining Plumbers. Ben was the only one left still conscious staring up at the creature who had taken out at least a dozen trained Plumbers in two attacks.

The Ultimate Crabdozer began walking towards Ben slowly, raising a pincer ready to attack. "C'mon Omnitrix, recharge!" Ben pleaded, tapping the watch constantly. Looking up, Ben could see the predator ready to attack. However just before the creature brought down its deadly appendage, a rocket hit the creature in the back, causing it to stubble slightly. Ben, using the distraction to scramble away, looked back at his saviour only to see his partner aiming his Proto-tool in its pod launcher mode. Sending a mini salute to him, Ben quickly found some cover where he could wait for the Omnitrix to recharge. Unfortunately for Ben, the ultimate predator had only seen Rook's attack as an annoyance and went after the teen.

"Ben!" Rook cried out as he continued to shoot rockets pods at the alien in the hopes that it would ignore Ben and come after him. However it wasn't working and the creatures focus was still on his partner. Once again the creature had Ben in a corners, aiming on of its bio cannons at the teen.

"Please, please work." Ben pleaded as he continued to fiddle with the Omnitrix face plate. Looking back, Ben spotted the growing red glow in the creature's cannons and began fiddling faster.

Rook ran as fast as he could towards his partner, praying that he would make it in time. Just meters away, the Ultimate Crabdozer fired its attack, engulfing Ben in red flames. "NOOO!" Rook cried as the backlash of the attack sent him flying back. Tears began to fill the Revonnahgander's eyes as he watched the flames fade to reveal nothing but an ashy smear. "Ben…" Rook whimpered.

"Crying over me, Rook?" A raspy voice said from behind the Plumber, causing him to turn and see a ghost like being with greenish white skin with black lines that was covered in green chains floating behind him. The Omnitrix symbol was in the centre of the chains. "I have to say I'm flattered." Prime Ghostfreak finished.

"Ben, you're alive!" Rook exclaimed happily, throwing his arms out.

"Yeah, the watch recharged just in time." Prime Ghostfreak explained before the roar of the evolved Crabdozer caught the pair's attention, the beast looked absolutely blood thirsty. "C'mon partner," Prime Ghostfreak began, trying to sound as confident as possible. "We have a predator to catch."

"Right!" Rook agreed with renewed determination. As one, the partners charged the predator, ready to take on the alien titan.

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Khyber snuck through the halls of the Plumber base using the shadows for cover, making sure that he was hidden in them whenever a Plumber ran by him. He had suspected that the Revonnahgander would contact the rest of the Plumbers about his presence after he had gone to help Tennyson. Not that it mattered as Khyber's stealth skills was far above the Plumber's detection abilities. Silently, the huntsman made his way towards the Plumber communication relays. Sneaking inside, Khyber looked around to see that the station was deserted. They must have gone to assist Tennyson and the Revonnahgander with his 'little' distraction. Moving over to the console, Khyber began messing with the controls, getting the details for a particular Plumber agent who was currently on a mission in Japan.

"Christian Hawke, eh?" Khyber deadpanned. "Too inexperienced for my taste but if that's what he wants." He said as he downloaded the details for the young Plumber on to a flash drive that the huntsman had brought with him. "And with that, it's time to move to the next stage." Taking out a second flash drive, the huntsman inserted it in to the computer and installed a special program developed to give him and his employer some extra time before the Plumbers could come after them. After a few seconds, a timer appeared on the screen counting down from ten minutes. "*sigh* Why is there always a timer? Why can't it just work automatically?"

Shaking it off, Khyber exited the room, breaking the door access as he did so no Plumber could stop his plan. He had one last thing to do and in order to do that, the huntsman was going to need his hunts dog.

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Back in the training room, Ben and Rook were having a hard time just trying to survive. The evolved predator was far too powerful for them, especially since Omnitrix was refusing to turn Ben in to the alien he wanted, which happened to be Atomix. Currently in the form Ben called Fasttrack, a feline-like alien with a black suit-like colour scheme whose hands, legs, part of his head, and chest were coloured blue. He had spikes on his hands and legs. He also had black Wolverine mask-like fins around his green eyes. He had a triangle-shaped nose, and a thunderbolt-like design down his chest. Like XLR8, Fasttrack had super speed, unlike XLR8 he also had enhanced strength.

Using his speed, Prime Fasttrack raced around the predator, trying to distract it whilst Rook worked on reaching the collar around its throat. Unfortunately for them, the ultimate predator was unfazed by the fast alien. Roaring, the predator sent out several blasts of red bio rockets from its pincer cannons. Rook was having a hard time moving let alone aiming as he dodged the attacks.

"Ben! We cannot take much more of this!" Rook cried as he dodged yet another attack.

"You think I don't know that?!" Fasttrack cried as he dodged an attack from the evolved Crabdozer's other pincer. "Do you have any idea how hard it is fighting this guy whilst dodging its attacks?"

"Yes, I believe I do." The Revonnahgander deadpanned, dodging a swipe from the second pincer by performing a flip. "Very much so.

"I'm going to give the Omnitrix one last try." Fasttrack cried as he zigzagged around the creature, skidding underneath Ultimate Crabdozer as he slapped the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. There was a vibrant emerald light from underneath the predator's four legs before the titanic alien was thrown across the room by another alien. Lying on its back was a beige, dinosaur like alien wearing a green sash and black briefs. The Omnitrix symbol in the centre of the sash. "Humungousaur?" the dino like alien remarked. "Atomix would have been better but I'll take it."

A roar from the predator caught Prime Humungousaur's attention. The alien had regained its composure and was now charging the Vaxasaurian with its massive horn aimed at his chest, using its two pincers as a third pair of legs. Swiftly, Prime Humungousaur dodged to the side before allowing himself to grow so that he was bigger that the Ultimate predator. When the creature had slowed down enough it spun around and charged again, oblivious to the fact its opponent had grown. The predator charged straight in to the arms of the waiting Vaxasaurian who used his mighty strength to slow down the creature's charge. Once they had come to a standstill, Prime Humungousaur called out to Rook, who had been trying to shoot the creature with the Proto-Tool. "Now Rook! Get the collar!"

"Right!" His partner responded, placing his weapon on his shoulder where it secured itself in place. Using his cat like agility, Rook jumped up on to the creatures back where he moved up to the creature's neck. "I've got it Ben!" the Revonnahgander cried as he removed the Proto-Tool from his shoulder.

"Actually, I don't think you do." A calm voice said from the side of the fighting Plumbers. Rook moved his head to look towards the voice however as soon as he did a net came out of nowhere and snared the Plumber, knocking him off Ultimate Crabdozer and on to the floor. Much to his misfortune, the force of the impact had caused him to lose his grip on the Proto-Tool and had sent it skating across the floor out of his reach. Prime Humungousaur looked towards his downed partner however in that moment the Nemetrix around the Ultimate Predator's neck beep and the creature began to change. Its rocky body became long and segmented and changed from a dark purple to purple and grey. Its forehead became a dark red and was changed in to what resembled a tyrannosaurus with a horn in the middle of its forehead. The new predator stood on four legs and had six smaller arms on its upper body. The Nemetrix collar was still around its neck with the device itself in the centre. This was the predator that had been dubbed Tyrannopede, a Vaxasaurian predator.

Due to Prime Humungousaur's position when the best transformed, he was now clinging on to the beasts head. For a single moment nothing happened before the predator threw back its head, throwing Prime Humungousaur across the room and into the wall. When he slid to the floor, the Omnitrix timed out transforming Prime Humungousaur back into Ben. Before Ben could recover he heard the same voice from before cry, "Bioid, restrain him!" The boy looked up to see Tyrannopede growling above him. Before he could make a move, Tyrannopede shot out a string of webbing from the horn on his head that ensnared the human and wrapped him in a cocoon that went up to the base of his neck, preventing him from reaching for the Omnitrix. Struggling, Ben looked up to see Khyber standing alongside his 'pet'.

"I don't suppose you'll let me go will you?" Ben asked hopefully, his voice slightly fearful.

Khyber moved his hand to his chin and pretended to consider it. "I don't think so." The huntsman replied, taking out a second knife that he kept with him. "You have no idea how long I've waited for you to be helpless before me Tennyson. How many times I've imagined finishing you and placing your pelt on my wall."

'Pelt?' Ben couldn't help but think as he listened to the deranged huntsman. "You're messed up, you know that?

Khyber merely chuckled. "Say what you wish, but it won't change the situation we're in." He replied, waving his knife dangerously close to Ben's neck. After a few seconds that felt to Ben like eternity, Khyber pulled the knife away. "Unfortunately, time, is not on my side today so you get to keep your life for another day." The huntsman said, a slight hit of regret in his voice.

"What? I'm not worth your time? That hurts Khyber." Ben mocked, trying to conceal his relief.

"If you're pain now…" Khyber began, smiling cruelly whilst using his knife to open the webbing that imprisoned the human's legs, freeing them. "Then this…will be agony…"

"What are you-" Ben began before Khyber thrust his knife into the side of Ben's right leg. "AHHHHHHH!" Ben screamed as blood gushed from his wound and soaked his trousers. Khyber merely smirked at the boy's pain. At the side lines, Rook had been struggling against his captivity. The net that bound him appeared to be made out of a strengthened metal alloy that the Revonnahgander was unable to break through or remove without the use of his Proto-Tool. However now, he was transfixed by the sight of Khyber torturing his friend. Unable to find the words to say, he watched on, horrified being the last word in his mind to how he felt.

"Heh, You don't have any wise cracks now Tennyson?" Khyber remarked as he stamped down on Ben's wounded leg with enough force to break his bones, causing the poor teen to cry louder than before. "Think of this as a reminder the next time we come in to contact. It should make the hunt…more interesting."

"Khyber…" Ben seethed through the pain. "You… won't… get away…with this."

"Oh, Tennyson. I already have." Khyber told him, looking at his gauntlet to see that the electronic timer equipped was down to three and a half minutes. Pressing another button on his gauntlet, the Nemetrix around the neck of Tyrannopede beeped, once again transforming the creature into a new one. Tyrannopede's body became more slender and wormlike, its back legs retreating into its body. Its head became more beak like and it gained an extra pair of eyes. It's body turning from a dark purple to orange with lavender stripes. Its six arms becoming insect like at the top of its body, the colour changing from grey to red. A pincer like spike grew at the end of its tail, grey spikes grew along its back. The Nemetrix was once again present on the collar around its neck. This alien was called Slamworm, the predator of the alien Ben called Armadrillo.

"Bioid! Make a path to the hanger! Quickly!" Khyber ordered, jumping on to the creatures back.

Slamworm roared before throwing its head forward and burrowing through the floor, moving through level after level downwards. Ben glared at the hole for a few more seconds swearing that Khyber would pay for his crime. If not by him, then by another Plumber. With that last thought, Ben succumbed to unconsciousness.

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Several floors down, Slamworm and Khyber broke through in to the Plumber hanger where all of the Plumbers vehicles were kept and cared for. Upon touching the floor and scaring most of the Plumbers present, Khyber gave one simple command. "Destroy them!"

With a frightening roar, Slamworm lashed out it tail, instantly crushing one of the Plumber space craft which were mostly white and had a triangular shaped cockpit with long white and black sides. Despite the Plumbers efforts, the cycle continued with Slamworm destroying multiple Plumber ships with his mighty tail. When Khyber was sure that all the ships were destroyed, he took a glance at the timer on his upgraded gauntlet. One minute left. Pressing the same button he had earlier, Slamworm once again began to shrink and transform in to a sleek but large reptilian tiger like alien with midnight black scales and razor sharp teeth. It had four legs each with short but sharp claws. The creature also had a long tail with a blade like tip. It had four blood red eyes and a red fin on the top of its head where two horns spread out of its head like handlebars. The alien was as big as a horse. The Nemetrix was around a collar on its neck.

Khyber sat proudly on top of the new predator, holding on to the horns in order to steady himself. "Bioid, let's take our leave." Khyber said, causing the new predator to roar and run at extremely high speeds out of the Plumber hanger bay, which was conveniently open, disappearing into night.

Once he was sure that they were far enough away, Khyber pressed his heels into the creature's sides causing it to come to a halt. Smiling, Khyber dismounted the predator and looked at the timer on his gauntlet to see that it had entered the final thirty seconds. "Time for the show to start." Khyber said as he pressed two buttons. Almost instantly, there was a beep from the Nemetrix, transforming the predator back into the robot it had once been. After a moments there was the hum of an engine and the feeling of vast amounts of air being displaced. Suddenly, the ship that had been above the skies of Bellwood de-cloaked revealing a ship that was twice the length of a football pitch. It was shaped similar to that of a bug head. At the front were red eyes like glass, claw like extensions were at the front and sides. The whole ship emitted a menacing atmosphere. A hatch opened allowing Khyber and the Bioid to enter the ship. However just before Khyber entered, he turned to look in the direction of the Plumber base. With a knowing smirk, the huntsman turned and walked onto his ship just as the timer on his gauntlet went off.

"Lights out, Plumbers."

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At the base, the Plumbers had begun treating the wounded from the attack. In the training room, Max Tennyson was organising a medical team to take care of the drastically wounded Ben. Rook had long since been freed from the net that had imprisoned him and was now standing next to the fretting grandfather who was swearing bloody murder.

"Khyber will not be getting away with this! I will personally see to it that he pays for doing this to Ben!" Max fumed, blinded by his anger.

"I could not agree with you more Magister." Rook agreed, his hands clenched in to fists. "If only I had been stronger, perhaps Ben would be-" Rook was interrupted by the sound of electricity flaring and lights going out. The two Plumbers looked around themselves to see the base go completely dark. After a few brief moments, the lights came back on, only this time red light flooded the surroundings signifying that the base had turned to back up power. "What is happening, Sir?" Rook questioned.

"I don't know." The elder Plumber replied. Turning to the stunned Plumbers who were currently holding Ben on a stretcher he ordered, "Get him to the infirmary, now!" Turning back to the Revonnahgander, he said, "Rook, you're with me. We need to check the cause of this."

With a nod, the younger Plumber removed the Proto-Tool from his shoulder and followed his superior out of the training room and through the halls of the base. Taking point, Rook pointet his blaster in to each room they searched looking for a disturbance that had caused the sudden power outage. Finally, the pair came to the communications room. However, upon attempting to enter, the plumbers found that door refused to open.

After a few more failed attempts, Rook moved Max out of the way and broke down the door using the Pod launcher feature of his Proto-Tool. Once inside the communications room, Rook and Max were shocked to see that the central communications hub had static running all over it as it malfunctioned. Working quickly, Max rushed forward and began typing in commands whilst desperately trying to learn what Khyber had done. Finally, Max found exactly what Khyber had been looking at. The locational details of the one Plumber agent stationed in Japan. "No…" Max denied, oblivious to the fact that the computer was now acting erratically.

"Magister! Watch out!" Rook cried, grabbing hold of the older man and pulling him away from the hub as it exploded in flames. Looking back, the two Plumbers stared in stunned silence at the damage.

Finally, Max found his voice. "He's…he's going to Japan…to Yokai Academy." The old man told the Revonnahgander. "We need to warn Christian."

"But how?" Rook asked. "Khyber destroyed the Plumber communication hub and appears to have uploaded a virus in to all of the bases systems and from what Ben has told me about this academy, we are unable to simply call him on his Plumber badge or his mobile telephone. Khyber also destroyed all the ships in the hanger. We have no method of contacting anyone."

"What about the Proto-TRUK?" Max asked, his hand on his chin.

Rook was about to reply before he realised that his ship had not been in hanger when Khyber had attacked. It had been on the street outside the shop that served as the bases cover. "My ship is still operational." Rook admitted. "However, without the communication relay, the Proto-TRUK's navigation systems will be down and decrease its speed."

"That doesn't matter right now Rook!" Max snapped, frustrated by the whole situation. "Christian needs to know what is going on and the danger that he could be in!"

"I understand, Magister Tennyson." Rook saluted before beginning to make his way out. However, just before he left, he turned and said. "What about the students of the school sir? I'm not exactly going to blend in."

"Grab an ID mask on the way." Max ordered. "Just make sure you get there in time."

Rook nodded in confirmation and ran off, leaving the concerned Magister to worry and clean the mess the hunter had made.

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Khyber's ship was travelling at a steady pace across the Pacific Ocean. Inside the ship, Khyber was working on changing the Bioid's appearance to make it more worthy of the huntsman. On a screen that was attached to the ceiling, a figure obscured in darkness was talking to the huntsman about the 'festivities' that had taken place at the Plumber base.

"I trust that everything went as planned?" The figures voice was deep and calm, making him sound extremely dangerous.

"It did." Khyber confirmed, not looking up from his work. "I have to say, I'm extremely impressed with your work. Those chips you supplied me worked brilliantly and that virus has crippled the Plumbers. They won't be able to do anything for a good long while."

"You are most welcome my associate." The figure replied, the shadowed image on the screen appeared to be bowing. "I must ask though, are you sure you made sure that they will be unable to follow you? I don't think you will want any…interruptions whilst hunting."

"I made sure that the Bioid destroyed every vehicle in the Plumber hanger, including their tanks." The hunter replied.

"Well…if you're sure." The figure replied.

"I do have a question for you though." The huntsman stated. "How were you able to create all off this equipment?" He asked, referring to the chips he had used, the now broken ID mask and his gauntlets.

"Let's just say…I've been around a while." The figure replied, avoiding the question.

Knowing that he was not going to get a straight answer from his partner/employer, the huntsman decided not to pursue the issue. "Very well then. I'm in route to Japan, I should be there with in two hours."

"I'm already at the rendezvous sight. If you have the coordinates then we can head to Yokai Academy as soon as you arrive." Khyber's partner told him.

"Why are you so interested in this boy, this Christian Hawke?" Khyber asked, it was a question that has been bothering him since he had discovered the Plumbers file.

"I wish to give him my regards." The figure said simply. "They are…long overdue."

Khyber finally looked away from the Bioid to his partner with a suspicious look in his eye. Letting it go he said. "What you do is none of my concern. Once we arrive at this academy my job is done and I will be able to hunt a range of new and powerful prey."

"Do as you wish." The figure replied. "It won't matter anyway." With those words, the transmission ended, leaving Khyber to his work and the contemplation of his thoughts.

_'Christian Hawke. What does he want with you?'_

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**I hope you guys enjoyed this and as I said the next part is on the way. I hope you will enjoy it. Also I'm sorry that this isn't as long as I promised, it was originally but as I said I went over the word limit. Anyway, I'll see you in a few hours.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Hey guys! My exams have finally finished and I'm back to writing. I once again want to thank everyone for their patience and I hope that this chapter makes up for the long wait. I want to wish Lewamus Prime a late Happy Birthday. This chapter is sought of a birthday present to you. As for the results of the polls for the pairings of Kurumu and Mizore, Mizore is going to be paired an OC character I will come up with later, Kurumu had a tie between Ben and an OC. Therefore I'll chose what will be easier to write and make that the pairing. **

**I'm sorry if the writing isn't brilliant, I'm a little rusty.**

**Other than that, I hope you enjoy the show.**

**Important: The first part of this chapter begins on the day Nagare stole the Newspaper draft in the last chapter.**

"**..." Speech**

'**...' Quote **

'**H**_**i' Thought**_

"**Learn your place!" **Inner Moka through Rosario

**Prime Feedback =Ben**

**Feedback= Christian**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC, everything else belongs to their own creators. **

**Alien Watch in a Monster School**

**A Huntsman, a Betrayal and a New Threat**

**29 hours after the events of the last chapter**

"C'mon Bro!" Zack begged as he, Christian, Moka, Kurumu and Yukari stood in a clearing in the woods. "You've got to show us your other forms!"

It was the morning after the whole Nagare episode and Christian and his friends had been walking to school talking about the fight from the previous day and how they were excited about selling their first newspaper. However, somehow the conversation had turned to Christian and his different forms.

"I don't know." Christian replied, slightly hesitant. "You know the rules about showing your true form." In all honesty, Christian had a lot on his mind. He had been unable to contact the Plumbers for the past few days and he was worried. It could have been a glitch on their end but it should have been sorted out by now.

"But Bro...!" Zack complained.

"Don't be a buzzkill Chris." Yukari said, smiling devilishly. "I have to say that I'm also interested in what you can turn into."

"And besides," Kurumu began. "The rule applies to your TRUE form. Those other forms aren't your true form so it's ok for you to show us them."

"Still…" Christian began.

"If it's okay with you, Chris…" Moka began, slightly nervously. "I'm also curious as to what you can turn into to."

As soon as Moka had said that, Yukari and Zack fist pumped subtlety as they knew Christian wouldn't say no to Moka. They had won.

"Well…I guess if everyone wants to see them, I can't say no." Christian relinquished, finally giving in.

"YAY!" Kurumu, Yukari and Zack cheered excitedly. Moka on the other hand merely smiled. She didn't know why but she had been slightly nervous around Christian ever since the 'event' that had happened during the fight with Ms. Ishigami. Every so often, she found her mind wondering to the kiss they had shared. It may have not have been the most romantic of situations but the very thought of it brought a blush to her cheeks. Something she didn't want to admit was it had actually been her first kiss. The electricity she felt when their lips touched was unbelievable. She couldn't help but long for another. Of course, this made it extremely awkward being around Christian as she knew that it had been a kiss of necessity so that Christian could pull off her Rosario in order to release her other self so that she could save their lives. Christian may not even feel the same way she did. And it wasn't like she could talk to anyone about it. Both Kurumu and Yukari had feelings for Christian and she didn't want to ruin her friendship with either of them. Zack was alright but she thought she needed to talk to a girl about this. Moka also hadn't heard from her other self since the fight with Ishigami meaning that she wasn't an option to talk to. For now, Moka was forced keep these feelings to herself. Although, she had to admit it did hurt a little as Christian didn't seem to be having that problem. Maybe he didn't feel anything about the kiss?

Moka was brought out of her thoughts by a bright emerald light. Apparently during her thought process Christian had selected an alien and transformed into it. Standing in front of her and the others was a tall werewolf like alien that the vampire recognised as the alien she had seen standing outside the girls dorm during the whole peeping tom incident.

"This guy is called Blitzwolfer." The alien explained. "Not only does he have enhanced strength and agility but he can also emit a supersonic howl that can make a person deaf at close range."

"Cool!" Kurumu remarked.

"Seen him." Zack remarked in a rather bored tone. "Show us some new ones."

Blitzwolfer nervously scratched his head at the mixed reaction. "Umm… okay. Let's see. The guys you've all seen are; Humungousaur, Rath, Astrodactyl, XLR8, Big Chill, Grey Matter and Ripjaws." He listed off. "That leaves," He said as he tapped the Omnitrix symbol on his collar. "Swampfire!" The plant alien cried. He then explained his powers before tapping the symbol on his chest again and transforming into Cannonbolt, again explaining his powers before touching the symbol on his chest. Diamondhead was the next alien to make his appearance. The silicon like alien then explained his powers and made three green crystal bracelets for the girls, getting a 'show off' comment from Zack. Diamondhead then once again pressed the Omnitrix symbol on his belt transforming him into Kickin Hawk and then transforming again in to a new alien whose upper-body was covered in green eyes and black pupils, although ironically he had no eyes on his face, which consisted of a mouth and a very large pair of bat-like ears. He had dark yellow skin with lighter yellow skin on his chest and feet. The alien wore black pants that had green circles running around his legs in three different places. Around his waist was a green and white belt with the Omnitrix symbol in the centre.

"This guy is Eye Guy." The new alien said. "And I am able shoot energy, fire and ice beams from my eyes. I'm pretty cool, right?"

"And apparently you make eye puns." Yukari deadpanned.

"His powers are still cool through." Zack commented, defending his friend.

"You said you had fifteen aliens, Chris" Moka interrupted. "What are the other two?"

"Well-" Eye Guy began before the Omnitrix began to beep signalling it was timing out. In a flash of green Eye Guy reverted back into Christian. "It looks like all those transformations drained the power of the Omn- I mean my limiter." Christian quickly corrected. "I guess we should get to school. Those newspapers aren't going to sell themselves."

"Hang on Chris!" Yukari cried, gaining the boys attention.

"What is it Yukari?"

"You say you have fifteen aliens, but what about the form that Humungousaur turned into in the forest when we first met." The young witch asked.

Christian suddenly became very nervous. He was really hoping that no one would ask that. "Well…you see…" Christian began, trying to think of a way out of this situation.

Thankfully, Moka came to his rescue. "You were able to turn into that form because you focused your monster energy in to pure power transforming it. Right?"

"Yeah, that's exactly it." Christian confirmed, nodding enthusiastically.

"How come you don't do that during every fight?" Zack asked curiously.

"It's…It's just that…" Christian began, becoming frustrated with himself. "Look, is it okay if we not talk about 'that', it's an uncomfortable subject."

"But-" Zack began before Christian interrupted.

"But nothing! Just drop it!" He cried before stomping off, hating himself for snapping at his friend.

Behind him, Zack and the girls looked at Christian in disbelief. They couldn't believe that their friend had shouted at Zack. It was very out of character for him.

"What was that about?" Zack questioned, clearly offended for being yelled at.

Reassuringly, Moka put her hand on Zack's shoulder. "Don't take it too personally." She told her friend. "It's just that he doesn't like talking about those forms. Especially after what happened." She said, referring to the incident with the class rep.

Zack nodded in understanding but made no other response. After a few moment Moka removed her hand and began to make her way in the direction that Christian had gone. Kurumu and Yukari shot Zack their kindest smiles before following Moka.

Zack however remained still for a few moments. The words of a certain enforcer ringing in his ears. _"People pretend to be your friend so they can use you for; protection, cash, laughs and anything else they want before they toss you aside like yesterday's trash."  
_Shaking his head, Zack cast away those thoughts. Christian just had bad memories of what he called, the 'ultimate forms'.

"Zack, are you coming?!" The teen heard Yukari call. "C'mon slow poke!"

"Sorry, I'm coming!" Zack replied. "Wait up!" As he ran, Zack couldn't help but feel a sense of dread wash over him. Behind him, a pair of evil red eyes watched the boy's departure from bushes. Suddenly a low growl could be heard that seemed to emanate through the forest.

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On the path that leaded to the school, two students, were running like crazy as they had only just left the dorm. Both were boys who were in their first year at school "I can't believe we overslept, Coach Kotsubo is totally going to kill us!" The first boy cried, picking up pace.

"I know!" The second boy replied. "Dude, we need to be speed up or we'll be late for early morning practice." As they ran, neither boys noticed a pair a red eyes following them. Suddenly, in a blur of motion, a streak of black crossed the path and snatched the second boy, leaving a few drops of blood behind.

The first boy, unable to hear the footsteps of his friend, stopped and turned around. Unable to see him the boy called out. "Hey, where did you go!? We've got to get to school!" The boy received no reply. Thinking his friend was playing a joke, the first boy looked around the path. Noticing the blood on the floor only meters away the boy began to panic. "Dude, if you're there, this isn't funny! Come out!" Once again there was no reply.

Suddenly, the boy heard a growl coming from his left hand side. Slowly and shakily, the boy turned to see a strange creature of likes in which he had never seen. The boy took trembling steps away from the creature, eyes wide with terror. "Nice…whatever you are. Please, please leave me alone."

The creature growled once more, razor sharp teeth bared. In a dash of movement, the creature lunged forward, and an ear piercing scream broke the silence of the forest.

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"Good morning!" Moka, Kurumu and Yukari exclaimed as they stood alongside Christian and Zack at the front gates of the school, a table with boxes full of newspapers in front of them.

"We're from the Newspaper Club and we're giving out free copies of our first issue this year!" Moka began.

"Read the scoop on the former art teacher, defeated by our very own Christian Hawke!" Yukari continued.

"Not to mention everything else you've ever wanted to know about Yokai and other special details on things such as cooking and test tips!" Kurumu concluded.

"We hope you enjoy our paper!" They finished together.

Needless to say, the effect that the girls had on the passing boys was tremendous. Each one automatically stopped and gazed at the girls, most making illiterate comments.

The ones that you could understand were pretty much saying the same things.

"What?!"

"It's like they're glowing!"

"They're angels descending upon us!"

"What an incredible view!"

Almost as one, the boys rushed forward, each one demanding a paper, causing the members of the Newspaper Club to smile happily at the success. Secretly, Christian handed Zack 500 yen.

"Told you that would happen." Zack whispered.

"Yeah, I guess." Christian deadpanned, closing his eyes in exasperation, annoyed that he hadn't seen the girls getting all the attention coming.

Christian suddenly felt someone throw their arms around him. Opening his eyes, he found himself in the middle of one of Kurumu's 'special' hugs.

"Christian, I'm so happy our paper is a success!" The succubus cried, hugging him tighter into her chest.

"What does hugging him have to do with anything!?" Moka cried, her face red with jealousy, although she would never admit it.

"Who cares?" Kurumu retorted, increasing her hold on Christian, near suffocating him, much to amusement and concern of Zack and Yukari.

"Kurumu…" Zack said, trying to get his friends attention. "You're killing Christian again."

Ignoring him, Kurumu continued to keep her hold on Christian, glaring competitively at Moka. "Just because you've known Christian the longest doesn't mean you own him."

"I don't own Christian!" Moka denied, her face bright red. "We're just friends, like we all are!"

"You may be friends with him!" Kurumu started, finally releasing Christian, allowing him to breath in much needed oxygen. "But he's my destined one! I know he's going to be with me one day!"

Moka suddenly found herself speechless, Kurumu's words had actually hit their mark. Once again. Memories and feelings of their kiss surfaced and Moka was left with the terrible fear that Kurumu might be right. Fear that her feelings might be unreturned. Pushing it aside, the vampire teen replied, "How do you know he's your destined one? He might be someone else's!"

"I know he's the one!" Kurumu replied, although there was a small hitch in her voice. "I can just…feel it!"

"Excuse me?" A male student said from beside the two girls.

"WHAT!?" They both shouted, turning to the boy with death glares, scaring the teen.

"Can I have a paper please?" The boy murmured in fear.

For the briefest of moments, the two girls just gave the boy a confused look before smiling warmly at him and handing him one off the issues they had left. "We hope you enjoy!" They said together with the most angelic voices they could put on.

The student took the paper nervously before backing away slowly before sprinting through the front gates.

Christian sighed, he was being propped up by Zack as he was still weak from lack of oxygen. "Well, if nothing else, at least we're popular." He murmured, clearly exasperated by the whole situation.

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Across the campus, in a dark and secluded shrine, a black clad teen with long blonde hair, pale skin and dots for eyebrows was reading a copy of the Yokai Times that he had sent one off his subordinates to collect under cover.

"So…the Newspaper Club?" The teen stated, not looking up from the paper.

"Yes master…" A purple haired girl confirmed, stepping out the shadows and dropping to one knee in respect. "I hear that they are handing out papers at the front gates." She reported, a sinister smirk appearing on her face before continuing. "Without our permission."

The blonde continued to read the paper before asking, "Is Orion with them."

"He is sir." Keito replied.

A frown appeared on the boy's face. "Then I guess that we will have to handle this differently. Lousy club, how dare they ignore us?" He proclaimed as he threw the paper away from him. Suddenly, a bright orange flame appeared in the palm of his hands. With a flick of his hand, the flame shot across the air hitting the paper dead centre, reducing it to cinders. "Let's go and show them the importance of respect." He growled as he walked out of the room, Keito hot on his heels.

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Back at the front gates, Gin had just walked over to his fellow club members, his usual charming smile on his face. "How's it going guys? Get rid of a lot of papers?"

His voice caught the attention of the other teens who were all still handing out newspapers to their fellow students.

"Oh, hey Gin." Moka greeted, giving the older student a friendly smile.

"Hey mutt." Zack said, not nearly as friendly as the pinkette.

"Wow, it looks we're pretty popular." Gin commented, ignoring Zack's comment. "We should charge next time."

"Yeah! Half of them are gone already!" Moka reported. "It's inspiring isn't it?"

Gin made no comment. His face may have appeared happy however his soul was solemn, memories from the previous year flooding back to him. However Gin was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Christian talking to him.

"Gin, how about giving us a hand? Hand out some of these papers."

At that statement, Gin began laughing. "Fool! An upper-class men doesn't do grunt work!" He told Christian, once again smiling charmingly.

However, Christian just returned it with a smile of his own "I think someone disagrees with you." He said simply pointing behind the werewolf before going back to handing out papers.

Confused, Gin turned around to see Zack, smirking evilly and pounding his right fist against the open palm of his left palm. Almost automatically, Gin turned around and grabbed a few papers. "Come and get your papers!" Gin cried shakily, handing a paper to a female student.

"Wuss." Zack said as he got back to work.

The News Club continued to pass out papers for a few more minutes before they heard people shouting something that made the blood in Gin's veins run cold. "It's the black shirts!"

The members of the club stopped what they were doing and looked up to see a crowd of about twelve students wearing all black. Most of the students were male and they each wore a black trench coat with a white wrist band around their left arms. The only two female students were wearing completely different outfits to one another. The first girl was one that both Zack and Gin recognised, the purple haired Keito wore the same uniform that she did on that night on the roof where she had confronted Zack and thrown him off it. The second was a girl with long red hair done up into a pony tail. Her uniform was sleeveless and done up with four golden strings. She held a wooden bo staff behind her shoulders.

The boy who led these teens was a tall, pale skinned, blond boy with dots for eyebrows. To his direct right was the two girls, to his left was an extremely tall boy with shoulder length black hair and an emotionless expression as well as another teen who was as tall as the blond teen but wore glasses and had black hair that came down to the top of his eyes.

The black clad students approached the News Club with confidence and pride. When they were only a few meters away, most of them stopped and stood still except for the blonde who kept walking until he was standing eye to eye with Christian, who was standing protectively in front of his friends. Behind Christian, Zack couldn't help but notice the smug look Keito was giving him.

"Good morning." The blond greeted politely, pressing hand to his heart and bowing slightly, smirking as he did so. "My name is Kuyo and I am the head of the School Protection Committee. It is good to meet you." The blond, now identified as Kuyo, then proceeded to pick up one of the newspapers on the table and inspected it. "I've come to talk to you about your newspaper."

"Are we doing something to disturb the peace, officer?" Christian asked, the last part sarcastically.

"Well, you see," Kuyo began. "I like to know what's going on in this school at all times. If something happens that I don't know about, I risk the chance of allowing chaos running rampant through our great educational institute."

'_Chaos? From giving out papers? This guy's nuts.'_ Christian thought, however he could feel that this person was not someone he wanted angry. "Okay. I'm sorry about that but unfortunately we didn't know you existed until now." Christian replied.

"You didn't?" Kuyo remarked, smiling slightly before turning to Gin. "I have no idea why you wouldn't. We should be well known within the Newspaper Club." Christian looked at Gin suspiciously and made a mental note to ask the werewolf about what Kuyo was talking about later. After a short pause, Kuyo continued, "As this is your clubs first offence I will look past it this time. However, I will not be so kind next time if you violate the rules again." Kuyo said menacingly. Pleased that his message was across, Kuyo turned and began walking back towards his other subordinates. "You may continue to hand out your papers today, but next time I ask that you submit a request before handing out your newspapers." With that the enforcers began walking away, ignoring the scowls the members of the News Club were burning into their backs.

When they were far enough away that she was sure the club couldn't hear them, Keito asked Kuyo, "Master, should we keep watch on the club? What happens if they try to rebel."

"There is no need Keito." Kuyo replied. "I'm sure Ginei Morioka will set them straight."

Back at the Newspaper stand, the club members were looking at each other with downcast expressions.

"What was all that about?!" Kurumu demanded, clearly upset about the whole ordeal.

"Yeah, who were those guys?!" Yukari agreed.

"Where do those A holes get around saying that we need to get their 'permission' to hand out our newspapers?!" Kurumu continued.

Zack said nothing as he turned to look in the direction that the Security Committee had left. How the hell did they expect him to want to join after watching that?

Gin, whose face was a mixture of anger and sadness, sighed before saying. "Look, for now let's pack up the rest of the papers and take them inside. No one's going to want one after watching that."

"What!?" Moka exclaimed in disbelief.

"But Gin-!" Kurumu tried to say before Gin interrupted.

"Guys, for once just listen to me and take the papers back to the club room!" Gin ordered. "We'll talk about it at the meeting later, ok?" With that Gin walked off, using his speed to disappear in the blink of an eye.

Unable to say or ask anything else, the members that were left present of the News Club sighed and begrudgingly began to move the left over newspapers back to the club room before heading to class.

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'_I can't believe Gin.' _Christian thought angrily as Ms. Nekonome did the register for homeroom. _'He gave up way too easily. He may not have shown it but I know that he was enthusiastic about this paper too. But one look at those committee people and he completely backed down. Something must have happened in the past that effected Gin. I wonder what?' _

Suddenly Christian felt something poke him in the back. Turning around he saw Moka with a look of concern, pointing her pencil towards the front of the class. Turning, Christian was shocked to hear what Ms. Nekonome had to say. "Now everyone, I need to tell you guys something important." The cat like teacher began, a solemn expression on her face. "It is my regret to inform you that in the past few days, several students have gone missing." As soon as the teacher had said that the students in class began to murmur, everyone taking notice of the chairs that were vacant. "Settle down everyone!" Ms. Nekonome shouted, regaining everyone's attention. "As of this moment, I have been instructed to inform you that when moving around outside of campus you must go in groups of threes. That way you will be safer and more able to defend yourself which brings me to a new change in the rules." The teacher declared, writing up what she had said on the board behind her. "Until further notice, if you are in a situation in which your safety or the safety of a fellow student is in danger, you have the permission of the headmaster to use your monster form to protect yourself. Furthermore, class for the rest of the day is cancelled. After this you will go to your clubs then you can go back to your dorms."

The announcement that people had disappeared caused people to start chatting in suspicion and fear. The rule that meant people could use their true forms to defend themselves caused uproar. Students began shouting and yelling at Ms. Nekonome, demanding to know what was going on. Christian on the other hand was silent, contemplating what the recent events meant. If the headmaster had authorized students using their true forms to protect themselves, it meant that the situation was bad, very bad. He needed to know what was going on. Turning to Moka and Kurumu, who had been talking amongst themselves he whispered, "I need a distraction."

Nodding, Moka automatically raised her hand. Ms. Nekonome, happy for the distraction from the other unhappy students, allowed Moka to speak. "Miss, I don't feel so good. Is it okay if I go to the nurse's office?"

"Of course, just take someone with you." The teacher replied.

"I'll take her miss." Christian offered automatically before anyone else could offer, quickly getting up and leading Moka from the classroom by her arm, as if she really felt sick. Once the pair were down the hall and safely away from prying eyes, Christian let go of Moka and activated the Omnitrix, after selecting the right hologram he turned to Moka. "Go to the nurse's office and wait there for twenty minutes. Home room should have ended by then. Head to the club and wait for me. Tell the other I'll be there soon."

"But what will you be doing?" Moka asked, slightly worried about her friend.

"Getting information." Christian simply stated before slapping his hand down on the Omnitrix core. In a blinding flash of emerald light Christian disappeared, only to be replaced with a blue alien moth man.

"Big Chill!" The alien cried before becoming intangible and flying through the wall closest to him, leaving behind a concerned Moka.

"Be careful." Moka murmured, her right hand clenched over her heart.

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Big Chill continued to pass through walls undetected until he came to his destination. The teachers' lounge. He thought that Ms. Ishigami had come back and was looking for revenge. If that was the case, the teachers would know.

Without the need of his wings, the alien floated above the teachers who was present, however he took notice of the heart broken expressions that they had. Floating closer, Big Chill learned a shocking secret.

"I can't believe this happened." One of the female teachers said, tears in her eyes. "How could we let this happen to our own students?"

"It's hard to believe. I thought the headmaster knew about everyone who left and entered the barrier?" One of the male teachers commented.

"Clearly not."

"Why aren't we telling the students about what happened?" Another teacher asked. "They have a right to know."

"Can you imagine what they would do if they learned what happened?" The male teacher asked. "Can you imagine what they will do if they learn their classmates were murdered?"

Big Chill's heart missed a beat, unable to comprehend what he had just heard. People had been killed? On school grounds? How in the hell did that happen? Maintaining his cover, Big Chill continued to listen, dread filling him by the minute.

"But their bodies…they were mutilated." One of the teachers said, making Big Chill feel sick. "They were cut open, organs were removed and limbs cut off, then they were just left out if the forest like garbage. It's disgraceful!"

"The headmaster has sent for the authorities but unfortunately they won't be here for a week. Apparently something is causing them to be delayed."

"Do you really think we can keep it a secret for that long? What happens if a student finds a body?"

"Three bodies have been found out of the eight taken. There is a high probability that will happen."

"The bodies were all found in the same area. We just need to block that area off and pray no student goes in."

"Which area were they in?"

"The forest near the old underground dungeon."

Big Chill had heard enough, once again phasing through the wall, he headed back to his friends, anger and sadness plaguing his emotions.

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Inside his ship, Khyber was mounting the arm of one of the students he had successfully hunted on the side of the wall. Through his examinations on the bodies that he had hunted, he found that most of them had unique biology's, one of the students he'd dissected had organs that he'd never seen before. However, overall Khyber was disappointed. These so called monsters had offered him no such challenge after he had sent the Bioid to capture them for the hunt. They hadn't even transformed in to their so called monster form. There was no sport in it. All they had been good for was science and learning more about his prey.

In the corner, the reconstructed Bioid was deactivated, waiting for the next hunt. It now had the appearance of an Earth wolf. Khyber had taken apart the Bioid and reconstructed its head, body and arms and legs as well as manufacturing a tail for it. Now with its more beastly appearance, Khyber felt that it was worthy of being his hunting companion.

Moving over to the cell, he saw the remaining five students unconscious and littered around the floor. Each one was hungry and cold. After hunting the previous three students, Khyber had given up setting them free so he could hunt them and decided just to use them for his investigations in to monster biology. He was fascinated by the fact that they could change their shape to look like humans and he wanted to learn more about them. His employer had promised him powerful opponents but so far that promise had not been delivered.

The attention of the huntsman was brought to a flashing light on the ships console alerting Khyber that someone was trying to call him. Pressing a button on the console, a screen was brought to life, bringing us the darkened image of his partner.

"Khyber, how goes the hunting?" The figure asked in his creepily calm voice.

"I was promised a hunt." Khyber stated in annoyance. "So far, none of these so called monsters have even offered me a challenge."

"Patience my friend." The figure chuckled. "There are lots of low level monsters at this school. If you truly want a challenge, may I suggest these three?" Three pictures of three different girls appeared on the screen. The first was young, Khyber reckoned she couldn't have been more than thirteen or twelve Earth years. She wore a brown uniform and a cape, a strange pointed hat was on her head. In her hand was a pink, heart shaped wand with pentagram in the middle.

The second girl was older and more mature than the first. She had cerulean hair that was done up in a ribbon. She wore a yellow sleeveless sweater vest over a white shirt and bunched up socks on her feet. Khyber took notice of her large assets but only thought of them as a hindrance to her overall speed and other abilities.

The final girl had long, bubble gum pink hair as well as a slim and slender figure. She appeared to be the same age as the second girl however the most noticeable feature was the silver cross that was around her neck.

"These three have been shown to be extremely brave in the face of danger." The figure explained. "If you want that challenge, I recommend these three."

"Why?" The huntsman asked.

"These girls aren't the most powerful but capture them and I believe this young man will want to have words with you." The figure responded, the image of a familiar boy appearing on the screen.

"Hawke?" Khyber remarked, slightly surprised. "Didn't you want him?"

"My message has already in place for him to find." The figure responded. "As long as he isn't killed before he sees it, I will be satisfied."

"Very well then." Khyber replied, shrugging it off.

"One more thing, Khyber." The figure began, earning the huntsman's attention.

"And that is?" The green alien asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Mister Hawke has been gifted with an Omnitrix. I just thought you would want to know." With that the transmission ended and Khyber was left in silence.

"An Omnitrix wielder?" Khyber said slowly before and evil smirk appeared on his face. "This may be more interesting than I thought." With that, Khyber pressed button on his gauntlet and activated the Bioid and began giving it new orders.

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In the Newspaper clubroom; Moka, Zack and the others were sitting in silence waiting for Christian to return. It had been twenty five minutes since Moka had last seen their friend and now everyone was worried, especially since the warning everyone received that morning.

"Bro's fine." Zack said confidently, trying to ease the tension. "He can turn into the toughest monsters that we've ever seen. I'm sure he's fine."

"But he would have changed back by now." Moka argued. "He told me he can only…uh…hold his form for fifteen minutes, less if he changes form during that time."

"Maybe we should go and look for him?" Yukari asked, fear gripping her eyes.

"Christian is the strongest there is, human or monster form." Kurumu bragged. "My destined one will be fine." She may have said that, but in reality Kurumu was really worried.

"Christian's fine." Gin told the others. "But what I have to say is important and you guys all need to hear it."

The other member of the club leaned in, ready to listen. However, just before Gin could start, the door to the club opened and Christian walked in, his eyes looked dead and lifeless.

"Chris!" The girls cried happily, relieved to see that he was okay.

"How's it going Bro? You okay?" Zack asked.

Christian didn't reply. He simply walked over to where everyone was and placed his hands on the table. "We all need to go back to our dorms and lock the doors." He said quietly.

"What?" Gin asked.

"We need to go back to the dorms and lock the doors. If we're going to across campus we should do it in threes, maybe even fours."

"Christian, what's wrong?" Moka asked, placing a hand on his shoulder, only to be shocked when he shrugged it off. "Chris…?"

"Please!" Christian cried, frightening everyone. "Just go home, and make sure that you're safe!"

The girls looked at each other for a minute before nodding and walking over to Christian and giving him a hug, reassuring him, before walking out the club together and heading back to the dorms.

Now it was only Christian, Zack and Gin in the clubroom, the former with his head looking at the desk.

"Bro, what did you learn?" Zack asked.

"They're dead…" Christian murmured, only just loud enough for Zack and Gin to hear.

"What!?" The both cried.

"The bodies of three of the missing students were found in the forest." Christian told them. For the next ten minutes, Christian told the male members of the club everything that he heard when he was in the teachers' lounge.

"In fairness, if the student body did know about that there would be an uproar." Gin commented, his hand under his chin in thought. "But still, they need to tell us that our lives could be in danger."

"Or at least bump up the security around here." Zack added, trying to control the growing anger that was inside him.

"It doesn't matter." Christian remarked. "For now, until this guy is caught, we keep each other safe. That means one of us needs to go and pick up Yukari from her class whenever we are leaving school or going to the club. We'll always walk here together. Understood?" The two other boys nodded. "Okay then, let's head back to the dorms. There's not much else to do here anyway.

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**During Christian's conversation with Zack and Gin.**

When Moka and the others had left the clubroom, leaving Christian and the other guys behind, they quickly made their way back towards the dorms, making sure to be careful and watch out in case someone attacked them.

"Christian seemed really out of it, didn't he?" Yukari asked, making conversation.

"I know, it was like he was scared of something." Kurumu agreed, looking over her shoulder to check for any predators.

"He must have found out something really terrible if it made him act like that." Moka said, remembering the way Christian had shouted.

"He just wants to make sure were safe." Kurumu replied, stars suddenly appearing in her eyes. "He's like a knight in shining armour that way." She swooned.

"Maybe we should have made him tell us what was wrong instead of leaving." The vampire teen said.

"Maybe…" Yukari responded. "It probably would have been wiser."

"Perhaps it would have been." A new, raspy voice spoke, scaring the girls. "Maybe then you would know what I can do."

"Who's there!?" Kurumu cried, unravelling her wings and tail whist making her fingernails grow in to long blade like weapons. "Show yourself!"

"Very well." The voice replied. The rustling of the bushes beside them brought the girls attention to a strange person in what they believed to be someone in monster form walk out, a bizarre robotic wolf at his side that had a red collar around its neck with a hexagonal device on its centre. The man had green skin, blood thirsty red eyes and was wearing a full body black suit that was covered in the bones of several other creatures. "Good, it appears that you are ready to fight." Khyber commented, taking a glance at Kurumu's current form. Yukari automatically moved behind Moka, frightened of the person in front of them. Despite the fear, Yukari still drew her wand in readiness for a fight. "Heh, heh." Khyber chuckled. "It appears that even the young one has a little back bone." Khyber then turned his head towards Moka, who was surprisingly looking at the Bioid to his side. "I see you're interested in my hound."

Moka didn't reply. She just kept staring at the robot dog. More specifically, the device around its neck. _'Is that a…?' _She wondered. Not wanting to be correct, Moka turned to her friends and cried, "Guys, we need to run, now!"

"Come on, Moka, we can take him!" Kurumu argued, smirking slightly.

"No! We can't!" Moka shouted back, grabbing both her friends arms and began running away from the huntsman.

Behind them, Khyber merely smirked and pressed a button on his gauntlet, earning a beep from the Nemetrix. "Retrieve them." The huntsman ordered. Instantly the Bioid began running forward, transforming as it ran into a creature that was the mix between a sabretooth cat and a hyena, with large saber like teeth and a horn on its dog-like nose. Its stomach hair was a crimson red, while its back hair was black. A sharp hook was at the end of its tail. The alien ran a top speed until it was right behind the girls. In one movement, the beast used its powerful legs to jump over the girls, landing directly in front of Moka and forcing the girls to come to a stop. The creature turned and began growling menacingly at the girls, its red eyes glaring dangerously at them.

"Where did that come from?!" Yukari cried, cowering behind Moka.

"Who cares, there's only one of it." Kurumu stated, walking to the front of the group, her claws drawn. "This will be easy."

To the shock of all the girls, the beast glowed red before it split off into three. Then the copies glowed again and split into three more. In just four seconds, the girls were surrounded by fifteen copies of the same creature. Kurumu suddenly became…a lot less confident.

Behind them, the girls heard Khyber laughing. Turning to the huntsman they saw that he was right behind them. "Interesting thing about the Panuncian." He told them, leaning down to pet one of the copies. "They have the, useful, ability to create copies of themselves."

"Who are you!?" Moka demanded, trying to sound confident but the crack in her voice gave the vampire teen away.

"Not that it will matter but you may call me Khyber, the greatest huntsman in the galaxy." The huntsman introduced.

"The galaxy?" Kurumu asked, her expression one of disbelief. "This guy's nuts."

"Call me what you want." Khyber replied. "It doesn't change the fact you're trapped."

"Oh yeah?" Kurumu challenged, spreading her wings. "You'll have to catch us first!" with that, Kurumu grabbed both Moka and Yukari underneath their arms and began to flap her wings with all her strength, taking both the succubus and her friends in to the air. "Just try getting us from up here!" Kurumu gloated.

Khyber continued to smirk, the Panuncian copies merging back into one. "As you wish." He said, pressing on his gauntlets again. Instantly, the Panuncian transformed, becoming a large insectoid creature resembling a bee or moth. It was purplish-grey in colour, had sharp fangs, four legs, two sharp teeth, a dual-stinger on its tail, two antennae on its head, and four wings. The collar with the Nemetrix was around the base of its head.

Seeing this, the girls were left speechless. They had only ever seen one person with the ability to transform like that. Christian.

"How did it do that?!" Yukari screamed. "How did that thing just transform?!"

Before any of the girls could reply, the new predator flew at high speeds and slammed into Kurumu, forcing the succubus to let go of her friends. Moka and Yukari screamed as they fell fifty meters to the ground only to be caught at the last moment by the bug like alien's feet. The alien currently had a struggling Kurumu in its long tongue.

The alien flew down and hovered in front of Khyber. "Is that all you've got?" The huntsman asked, a hint of disappointment in his voice. Yukari gripped her wand tighter, remarkably not dropping it despite recent events, and quickly cast a spell causing a giant golden wash tub to fall the sky, hitting the alien bug on the head. However it didn't even respond. It was as if it didn't even feel it. "Nice try kid." Khyber told Yukari with a smile. "But not good enough." With that, the huntsman took a small capsule from his belt and sprayed it in the girls' faces. Almost instantly Kurumu and Yukari were knocked out. Moka was able to stay awake long enough to say "Christian will stop you." Just before Moka slipped into unconsciousness, she heard the huntsman say one last thing.

"I'm counting on it."

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Christian stood in front of his front door having just returned from News Club with Zack and Gin, the two boys had returned to their own rooms when they arrived at the dorms. However, upon putting in his key, Christian realised something was wrong. The door was unlocked.

Taking nothing to chance, Christian went around the corner so that if anyone was in his room, they wouldn't see the flash from when he transformed. Activating the Omnitrix, Christian dialled up the head icon for Big Chill. However upon slapping down the core, Christian found himself as Eye Guy.

"I can't believe this." Eye Guy complained. "I guess I will just have to work with this."

Heading back around to his door, Eye Guy opened it and tip toed in to the room, Eye Guy's night vision allowing him to see in the dark room. With his enhanced hearing, Eye Guy heard someone step out from behind him. Swinging his arm around, the eye in the palm of his hand lit up with energy. Eye Guy was met with what appeared to be a human in his late teens with dark blue hair wearing a blue shirt with black jeans. In his hand was a white, black and orange blaster.

For a few moments the two teens did nothing before the bluenette spoke. "Christian?"

"Who wants to know?" Eye Guy replied, surprised that the teen's voice was familiar.

The teen stopped pointing his weapon and placed it on his shoulder and moved his right hand to his face, as if grabbing something. To Eye Guy's shock, his face came off and then the rest of his body changed as well. The teen in front of him was now a blue, cat like alien wearing blue and black armour.

"Rook!" Eye Guy cried in surprise, slapping the Omnitrix symbol on his chest and reverting in to Christian. Christian had known Rook for a while. They had met at the Plumber Academy however they had only really become friends when Ben introduced Rook to Christian as the green eyed teen's new partner. "What are you doing here?" Christian asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Unfortunately, it is." Rook replied.

For the next few minutes, Rook told Christian everything that had transpired over the past few days. Christian was shocked to learn of the devastation that Khyber had left in his wake at the Plumber base, even more so to learn that Khyber had come to Yokai Academy. Christian knew all about Khyber from the Plumber reports that Rook had written, he knew Ben didn't do his own paper work.

"So you're telling me that we have an intergalactic criminal at Yokai?" Christian summed up.

"That is correct." Rook confirmed regretfully.

"That explains all these…missing students." Christian said, saying the last part with a lot of regret.

"Christian, what has happened?" Rook asked, sensing the boys concern.

"For the past few days students have gone missing. Three…three students have been found killed." Christian reported sadly.

"That is despicable!" Rook shouted, out raged. "For this and what he has done to Ben, Khyber will pay for his crimes!"

"Wait- wait!" Christian interrupted. "What happened to Ben?"

Rook then proceeded to tell Christian how the huntsman had stabbed their friend in the leg before leaving and how Ben had been unconscious ever since. As Christian listened, he could feel the anger growing inside him to a level where as soon as Rook finished his story, he was on his feet and heading for the door. "Christian, where are you going?" Rook asked.

"To find this son of a bitch and tear him a new one!" Christian replied. "Now let's get moving." With that, Christian walked out the door. Rook, after returning his ID mask to his face and changing his appearance back in to that of a humans, followed. His Proto-Tool taking the appearance of a kendo sword strapped to his back.

"But Christian, we don't even know where Khyber is!" Rook called after the retreating teen.

"I have a pretty good idea where to look!" Christian replied, remembering what he had heard whilst he was in the teachers' lounge.

As Christian and Rook made their way into the forest, they didn't notice a certain boy watching them from one of the boy dorms balconies.

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"**Wa… …p!" **A voice cried in Moka's head, groggily bringing her out of unconsciousness. **"Wak.. up!" **The voice cried again. **"Wake up!" **

Moka's eyes snapped, finding herself in unfamiliar surroundings. Trying to move, Moka found that she was strapped to a wall by shackles that held her wrists. Looking to her left Moka saw that Kurumu and Yukari were in a similar situation. It didn't appear that they had been harmed but both girls were still out cold. The vampire took notice that Yukari was missing her hat. Looking to her right, the Vampire was shocked to see a cage that was filled with five of the eight missing students. Moka didn't want to even think about where the other three were.

Pointlessly, Moka began struggling against her restraints in desperation, only stopping when she heard a harsh voice in her head. **"Stop struggling, your bonds are too strong." **The voice of Inner Moka reprimanded. It was then that Outer Moka realised that her Rosario was glowing.

"Inner me?" Outer Moka questioned.

"**Who else would it be?" **Inner Moka snapped. **"You need to calm down. Panicking is going to get us nowhere." **

"But what are we supposed to do?" Moka asked, looking around the room they were in. It appeared to be some kind of trophy room. There were various skulls and skeletons put up on display. Moka took notice or a skull attached to the wall that looked like Humungousaur's head and a skeleton that looked like Rath. There was also various weapons, a giant tortoise like shell and an alien skin rug. She also took notice that Yukari's wand had been propped up next to the Rath like alien skeleton. What scared her the most though, was the human looking arm on the opposite wall and the fact that it had a sleeve around it that was the same shade as the schools blazer.

"**We can't do anything while I'm sealed." **Inner Moka replied. **"Our only hope is either that Kurumu, Yukari or one of the other student's wakes up and they are strong enough to set us free. Or Hawke realises we're missing and comes to find us." **

It was then that a spark of hope lit up in Outer Moka. Christian would realise they were missing and come to find them. He would rush in as Humungousaur or Diamondhead and free them from this hell. It was who he was.

Suddenly, Outer Moka heard footsteps approaching her. Looking up, she saw the green humanoid who had captured her. "I see you're awake now." The huntsman remarked. "I'm impressed, you must have a high resistance to Odourean knockout gas. You should have remained unconscious for a few hours, but you seem to have recovered in only one."

"What do you want?" Moka asked, her fear peaking. "Why would you do this to us?"

"You are merely bait." Khyber answered. "My real prey is your friend, Hawke."

"Christian can beat you easily!" Moka cried.

"Yes, I've heard about his new little gadget." Khyber replied. "I must admit, an Omnitrix wielder will make a fine trophy."

Moka gasped in surprise. "You know about the Omnitrix?"

"Know about it?" The huntsman laughed. "I've been hunting another brat who uses the exact same piece of technology for the past six years."

"**He can't be very good at his job if it's taken him that long and he still hasn't caught this person." **Inner Moka commented, luckily, only Outer Moka could hear her. **"This other Omnitrix wielder, it must be the friend Christian told us about, Ben Tennyson." **The inner vampire surmised.

"Unfortunately for me," Khyber continued, oblivious to the spiritual conversation going on before him. "Mr. Hawke isn't as skilled a user as Tennyson, so the hunt won't be exciting as it is when facing him." He then smiled. "Not that it will matter. I have my own surprise to use against Mr. Hawke." Moka looked at Khyber with wide eyes, contemplating what he meant. It was then that something caught her eye. In the corner of the room was the unmoving figure of the robot wolf they had seen earlier. Khyber followed her eyes to the Bioid and smiled. "You have a good eye don't you girl?"

"What is that thing?" Moka asked.

"That, is a Bioid." Khyber told her. "A robot with slateless DNA enabling it to transform into a creature depending on the device it is linked to." The huntsman then proceeded to walk over to the Bioid and gestured to the device on the collar around its artificial neck. "This however, is more interesting. You can imagine it as an anti-Omnitrix so to speak. Its name is the Nemetrix and it has the ability to change its user into the predatory species of the creatures in the universe, which means…"

"The aliens in the Omnitrix…" Moka realised with dread.

"Very good." Khyber praised. "I must say, I'm surprised Hawke told you this much about aliens and the Omnitrix. He must trust you a lot if he's willing to share his secrets with you. From what your fellow students have told me, any human to enter these grounds is to be put to death." Moka was silent. "You must care for him yourself if you haven't revealed him to your peers." Khyber continued. "Do your other friends know Hawkes secret? Or is it just you?" Once again, Moka remained silent, glaring at the Huntsman fiercely. Knowing that he wouldn't receive an answer, Khyber decided to move things along. "It doesn't matter anyway. I shall find out soon enough."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Moka asked curiously.

"Because, before long girl, you will be dead." Khyber replied, walking off laughing to himself leaving a distraught Moka behind.

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Christian and Rook were steadily making their way through the forest towards the old abandoned dungeon, seemingly unaware of the person following them. Once the pair had turned and walked behind a large rock, making them disappear from view, the teen following them carefully tread to the corner of the of the rock and arced his head around to try and see the pair he was following.

However, to teen's surprise, he was met with someone grabbing him by the neck and throwing him against the wall. Looking up, he saw the surprised faces of Christian and a blue haired teen.

"Zack?" Christian asked in surprise.

"Heeeey, Bro." Zack replied nervously, flashing him a smile.

"What are you doing out here?" Christian asked, releasing his grip on his friend.

"I could ask you the same thing." Zack replied before gesturing to Rook. "And who's this guy?"

Quickly coming up with a lie, Christian answered, "This is Rook, he's my cousin come to visit from America. Isn't that right Rook." Christian said, nudging Rook in the gut.

"Yes, that is true. Christian is my…cousin." Rook confirmed, catching on.

"Oh…Well it's nice to meet you Rook." Zack greeted, holding out his hand which Rook than proceeded to shake. "And as for your question Bro, I was following you. You told us that we shouldn't be out on our own, especially with that murderer about."

Rook appeared surprised to learn that Zack knew that there had been killings, then again the Revonnahgander had only just met up with Christian and he had all day to tell his other friends.

"I know." Christian replied. "However you've seen what I can do and Rook is quite well adapted in combat himself. We'll be fine." Christian needed Zack to leave. Khyber was dangerous and despite the fact he had seen Zack knew his way around a fight, he didn't have Plumber training and if Zack came, Christian's mission may be compromised as Khyber would know that he was human. However the main reason Christian didn't want Zack to come was because he was his friend and Christian didn't want him in harm's way. Khyber was on a whole other level to the people they had fought at the academy. Christian felt it was far too dangerous for Zack. He refused to lose a friend. "Besides, all were doing is a little catching up. Me and Rook haven't seen each other in ages."

Zack looked from Christian to Rook before saying, "You know Bro, I don't believe you. Whenever something goes wrong at this school you are always there looking to solve the problem. That is definitely what's happening now. I don't know who this guy is or why you're choosing him to take along with you instead or me or the girls but I know it has nothing to do with a family reunion."

Christian cursed mentally. Sometimes Zack was too smart for his own good. "Look Zack, I'm sorry for lying but this is too dangerous. Me and Rook need to do this alone."

"Why though?" Zack questioned. "We're friends and friends help each other. Why won't you let me?"

"Zack this is out of your league. No offense but you can't handle this." Christian argued.

"Oh, and you can?" Zack countered, his voice slightly raised.

"Yes, I can!" Christian shouted, desperate to try and get Zack to safety and unfortunately that meant hurting him. "I'm the one who is able to transform in to powerful creatures! I'm the one who can adapt to most situations! And I am the one who is strong enough to take on this threat!"

Zack and Christian glared at each other, neither budging an inch on the matter. Rook was left at the side, awkwardly shifting his head from side to side as the two friends countered each other.

Finally Zack sighed, his eyes full of irritation. "Fine, if that's how you want to play it! Go! Go and fight whoever you want! But just know this, you've lost someone who could have helped you!" With that Zack turned and walked off disappearing into the trees.

Christian and Rook watched him go, the former feeling terrible for angering his friend. Rook, after Zack had finally disappeared from view, placed a hand on Christian's shoulder. "If you wish to go after him…" He began.

"No, I'll have plenty of time to make it up to Zack after this." Christian told the Revonnahgander. "Right now, Khyber is the mission."

With that, Christian marched on, his mind focused on finding Khyber. Rook looked back in the direction Zack had left before following after the Omnitrix wielder.

The pair continued to walk for several more minutes before Christian spotted something that almost stopped his heart. On an aged tree, pinned with a knife was a brown, pointy witch's hat that Christian knew belonged to Yukari. Rushing forward, Christian unpinned the hat and held it close, tears streaming down his eyes. Rook ran over to his friend, confused as to why he was hugging a hat and crying. It was then that Rook remembered reading one of Christian's reports that stated he had become friends with a young witch who happened to wear all brown. Now knowing why Christian was crying, the Revonnahgander tried to comfort him.

"There may still be hope." Rook told his sobbing friend. "They may still be alive."

Christian look up to his friend and nodded, wiping his eyes as he stood up. As he got up, Christian noticed a small piece of paper fall from the inside of the hat. Bending down to pick it up, Christian read the contents of the paper. Almost instantly his eyes filled with pure, unrivalled rage.

"Christian, what does the paper say?" Rook asked, trying to angle himself so that he could read the paper.

Instead of answering, Christian handed the Revonnahgander both Yukari's hat and the note. Then, in a flurry of motion, Christian activated the Omnitrix and dialled up an alien. Slamming down on the core, Christian transformed into XLR8. Not bothering to call out his name, the velociraptor like alien dashed further into the forest at his fastest speed. Rook was taken back as a blast of wind made him take a few steps backwards. Once he had recovered, Rook looked down at the note that had sent Christian into his current state of mind. His eyes widened to discover a set of coordinates and the words.

'Hurry and just maybe one of them may still be alive.'

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Zack was half way back to the dorms when he felt something strange in his heart. It was like a thousand knives had been shoved into his body. He could feel that something bad was going to happen very soon.

Despite the anger he felt towards Christian at the minute, he didn't want him dead. However Christian had made it quite clear, he didn't want his help.

Zack now had two choices. Turn back and help his friend, or continue back to his dorm and leave Christian on his own with that Rook guy.

"The choice is easy." Zack stated, turning and running back towards where he had last seen Christian.

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Khyber sat comfortably in the command chair of his ship, sitting in wait for his prey to come to him. However, the sound of the pinkette pulling against her restraints was beginning to anger him. Getting up, the huntsman approached the female and took out a knife from the side of his belt. Placing it under her chin, the huntsman said, "If you don't stop with that infernal struggling I may just cut your throat before Hawke gets here."

"Do what you want," Moka countered. "But you will pay for what you have done."

"I highly doubt that." Khyber replied. "I'm not scared of Hawke. I even left the landing bay open for him."

"I noticed." I reptilian voice sounded before in a blur of blue, black and green raced in to the room and grabbed a surprised Khyber. For the next few seconds, Khyber was thrown in to walls around the ship, as well being thrown in to the various bones that were hung on presentation around the room. Finally, Khyber was thrown into the ships console, causing it to spark. XLR8 then came to a stop in the middle of the trashed trophy room. "Thanks. It made doing that a lot easier."

"CHRISTIAN!" Moka cried, her heart filled with joy to see her friend had come to save her and the others.

"Ahh, Christian Hawke." Khyber remarked, getting to his feet. "I was wondering when you would show up."

"And you must be the infamous Khyber the Huntsman. Self-proclaimed 'greatest hunter in the galaxy." XLR8 mocked. "Soon to be the guy with the most broken bones in the galaxy."

"Heh, just like Tennyson. You use your wit to make your enemy lower their guard. A clever tactic, but one that will not work against the likes of me." Khyber retorted. "You are nothing but a less experienced version of Tennyson."

"If that's the case then you should be expecting this." XLR8 replied, slapping the symbol on his chest and transforming in to tailless, orange with black stripes, humanoid tiger that looked like it was on steroids. "Humungous-" Rath began before realising he was not the form he wanted to be. "WHAT!? RATH!?" the alien shouted, causing Moka, who was watching the scene from the wall, to sweat drop. "LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN OMNITRIX! RATH IS TIRED OF YOU NOT WORKING RIGHT TODAY! IT'S REALLY ANNOYING!"

"I see," Khyber began, gaining the angry aliens attention. "You transformed in to an Appoplexian." The huntsman then got into a fighting stance and approached Rath.

Rath then stamped his right foot down and pointed one of his large fingers at Khyber. "LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN KHYBER THE HUNTSMAN, GREATEST HUNTER IN THE GALEXY! RATH MAY NOT BE HUMUNGOUSAUR, BUT RATH IS GONNA MAKE YOU HUMUNGOU-SORRY!" Rath cried before charging the hunter, his first drawn back. Just before the alien tiger's fist could connect with the huntsman's face, Khyber used the hands to grab a hold of Rath's hand and shifted his weight causing Rath to fly over his shoulder.

"Sloppy." The huntsman reprimanded as Rath came at him again. Simply side stepping the angry alien, Khyber commented, "Unrefined." Khyber turned only for his to be back handed by Rath into the wall. Recovering, Khyber quickly got back to his feet. "But you have potential."

"POTENTIAL?! RATH WILL SHOW YOU POTENTIAL!" Rath shouted tapping the Omnitrix symbol and turning in to Diamondhead. The crystallised alien then charged and grabbed Khyber by the scruff of his collar and held him in the air with his left hand while morphing his right hand into a long blade.

"Are you going to threaten me now?" Khyber asked with a smirk, slowly using his right hand to reach for his left gauntlet.

"What are you doing here, Khyber?!" Diamondhead demanded.

"I was promised a hunt." The huntsman answered, finally pressing the button on his gauntlet.

"By who!?" Diamondhead shouted. "Tell me unless you want to become a shish kebab!"

"I was employed by someone who has an interest in you, actually." Khyber told him, secretly eyeing something approaching Diamondhead from behind. Moka, who was currently watching the interaction between the two aliens was oblivious to the approach of Bioid, now in the form of the predator Khyber had used to escape the Plumber base.

"Who's your employer?!" Diamondhead cried, inching his blade closer to the huntsman's throat.

"I believe I've said enough." Khyber replied, smirking. "Now I suggest that you let me go before my pet slits your little girlfriend's throat."

"What?" Diamondhead responded.

"Christian!"

Diamondhead reeled around to see a giant, midnight black reptilian beast with large, sharp teeth that was as big as a horse with its head around Moka's, one of its large teeth pressed against the vampires neck.

Diamondhead automatically moved his hand to aim at the Bioid, however Khyber tapped the arm that was holding him. "I wouldn't. That is a Dashslicer, the natural predator of a Kineceleran."

"_XLR8's species?" _ Diamondhead thought, realising the complications.

"Shoot at that predator and the girl will be dead before the shard even hits it." Khyber explained.

Diamondhead thought through the situation knowing that there was nothing he could do. He really wished he hadn't left Rook behind, the Revonnahgander's help would be essential right now. Begrudgingly, Diamondhead released his hold on the huntsman, allowing him to drop to the floor.

Satisfied, Khyber pressed two buttons on his gauntlet. The first one opened up a hatch in the roof of the ship revealing the sky. The second activated the Nemetrix and transformed the Dashslicer into a bat like creature with a wing span of seven metres. Green and blue crystals protruded from the creatures back and the tips of its wings. The creature possessed four blood red eyes and had a long tail with a crystal like blade tip. Its skin was a clammy, iron grey and its teeth long and sharp. The Nemetrix was in the similar place around its neck.

The creature shrieked before with a flap of its mighty wings it took to the air and grabbed Diamondhead by the shoulders before soaring out of the ship.

"Christian!" Moka cried, watching her friend be taken away from her.

"Well that was easy." Khyber commented before turning to Moka. "Now that I have Hawke. I have no need for you." He said, approaching her once again with his knife drawn.

"Freeze!" A new voice cried, making both Khyber and Moka turn towards the door. Standing with a strange looking blaster was a furry blue humanoid wearing blue and black armour. Moka of course had no idea who this person was but Khyber did.

"Tennyson's partner? How in the blazes did you get here?" Khyber asked, furious that he now had another annoyance to deal with.

"Khyber, put the knife down and step away from the female humanoid." Rook ordered.

"And If I don't?" Khyber inquired.

"Then you leave me no choice but to shoot you." Rook responded.

Glaring, Khyber stepped away from Moka, dropped his knife and put his hand in the air. Rook then proceeded to quickly aim the Proto-Tool at Moka's restraints and blast them in to smithereens. "Go and help Christian." Rook told her. "I'll free the other students."

Moka nodded slowly, having absolutely no idea what was going on, before running of the way she had seen Rook enter. Rook was now on his own with Khyber and the unconscious students. Taking out a pair of handcuffs from one of the pockets that his armour possessed, the Revonnahgander moved to cuff the huntsman. Unfortunately, Khyber had other plans.

With a swift movement, Khyber dropped to the floor and swivelled around doing a three hundred and sixty degree turn, picking up his knife as he did so. When the turn came to a close, the huntsman threw his knife at the Plumber, who was only just able to dodge the attack. From there Khyber quickly got to his feet and ran to the side to pick up an item from him fallen trophy case. A sword made of a black metal that had a fiery red strip running down the middle from the hilt to the tip.

Rook, realising what was about to happen raised the Proto-Tool, which had transformed so that the hilt of the weapon had become straight and a blade of hardened light particles grew from the tip of the weapon.

As one, the two fighters ran at each other, their weapons colliding with a mighty clash. The fight between huntsman and plumber had begun.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The bat like predator flew Diamondhead from the ship and dropped him from one hundred meters in the air down to the ground. Luckily, Diamondhead's diamond like skin protected him from the impact of the fall, not that it didn't hurt.

Groaning, Diamondhead pulled himself out of the crater he had made just in time to dodge an attack from the bat like predator as it came swooping down, it's wings spread to their full length. Ducking, the predator went straight over him, slicing through the trees as it did so.

'_Its wings are like Kurumu's nails." _Diamondhead noted as he dodged another attack. This time, as the creature flew at him, Diamondhead formed a crystal under his feet and used it to propel himself up into the air. Performing a flip in the air, Diamondhead sent several, long crystal like shards in to the predators back. To his shock though, the crystals shattered upon impact. "What?!" Diamondhead cried.

With a loud shriek, the bat predator performed a barrel roll, using its long wing to swat Diamondhead like a fly. The silicon like alien was flung through several trees, shattering the bark. Slowly, Diamondhead made his way back to his feet. Looking up, he was shocked to see the bat like creature land in front of him. Opening its mouth, the predator let out an ear piercing sonic attack that caused Diamondhead to drop to his knees, his diamond like skin cracking and splintering, weakening the alien immensely. When the alien finally closed its mouth, Diamondhead looked like he would shatter if someone were to touch him. So weak that he was no longer able to support his weight, Diamondhead collapsed, falling face first on to the ground, reverting back into Christian. "That…hurt…" the teen managed to say.

It was then that Christian remembered something. This creature was the natural predator of Petrosapien's, Diamondhead's species. He had learnt about them during his time at the Plumber academy. They had been extinct but when Ben had restored Petropia and all its people he must have also restored this species giving Khyber the chance collect its DNA. If he remembered correctly, the name of this species was Armopterra. Its skin was extremely hard and coated with a special metal that could not be pierced by most substances. It could also emit an extremely high pitch sonic attack that could crack the strongest of materials. They survived by eating the special crystals that were on Petropia and since Petrosapiens were made of this crystal it made them a delicacy. It was no wonder Diamondhead had lost so quickly.

Christian attempted to get up so that he could try and transform again. However, just as he was getting to his feet, the Armopterra landed on him, using one of its feet to pin him down. The Armopterra bent its head down until it was looking the struggling Christian in the eyes. Opening its mouth, the creature prepared to strike.

Closing his eyes, not wanting to believe he was about to die, Christian didn't expect to hear the cry of a familiar female voice and the sudden alleviation of pressure on his chest. Opening one eye, Christian was ecstatic to see a familiar pinkette standing in front of him with her hands out stretched. Looking to his left, Christian saw that the Armopterra was lying on its side fifteen meters away from them.

"Christian!" Moka cried, practically jumping on him and embracing him in a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Moka, how did you get out of Khyber's ship?" Christian asked, moving the girl so that she was looking him in the eye.

"A strange blue furred thing came on to the ship and freed me." Moka explained. "He told me to help you while he freed the others."

"That was Rook." Christian told her. "He's a friend."

Moka nodded before reaching for Christian's hand and placing it on her Rosario. "Chris, let me help. We can fight that thing together."

Christian felt conflicted. He knew that Inner Moka could handle herself and was immensely powerful, but she was his friend and he didn't want to risk her getting hurt. The sound of the Armopterra getting back to its feet captured the pair's attention. Christian knew he needed to make a decision quickly. Tapping the Omnitrix, he was distressed to see that it was recharging. Knowing that there was no other option, Christian turned to Moka and nodded, increasing his grip on the Rosario. With a simple movement, he tore off the Rosario and released Inner Moka. Automatically, the sky went from blue to dark red, a red moon present in the sky. A terrifying demonic aura filled the area as Moka's hair turned from bubble-gum pink to platinum silver. Her body filled out, becoming more mature, her eyes turned blood red and her pupils slit.

Her transformation completed, Inner Moka raised her arms and stretched. "I must admit," The vampiress said as she eyed the bat like predator who was now looking at Inner Moka as if evaluating its strengths. "These aliens are very strange. It will be interesting evaluating its strength." Inner Moka declared as she cracked her knuckles.

"Be careful Moka." Christian advised. "This thing should not be underestimated."

"I appreciate your concern Hawke but you should know by now that I am fully capable of taking care of myself." Inner Moka replied confidently. "I'm not like the other Moka."

"So you keep saying." Christian sighed, placing the Rosario in his blazer pocket.

"It's good that you understand." Inner Moka responded. "Now it's time that this beast learn its place." With those words, the vampiress dashed forward in a burst of speed. The Armopterra barely had time to react as Inner Moka delivered a wicked roundhouse to the aliens face sending it flying even further away.

"Wow." Was all the flabbergasted Christian could say. He was always surprised by how powerful Moka truly was.

"Uhh!"

Christian was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Inner Moka dropping to her knee, clutching her leg. Running over to her, Christian was quick to check on his friend. "Moka, what's wrong?"

Gritting her teeth in slight pain and annoyance, Inner Moka answered, "That thing was harder than it appeared. The force I put into that attack back fired as I just ended up hurting myself in the process. If I attack it like that again I will most likely break my leg."

"What!?" Christian exclaimed. "But you're stronger than most of my aliens. Some of them even combined. Just how hard is that thing?"

An angry screech caught Christian's attention. The Armopterra was clearly back on its feet and looking for blood. Raising the Omnitrix and tapping on the interface, Christian was relieved to see the holo wheel appear. Selecting a icon, Christian slammed down on the Omnitrix core. After a bright, emerald flash Christian had transformed into a new alien.

"Feedback!" The new alien cried confidently, an electrical sound could be heard when he spoke. Feedback had a black and green colour scheme with one green eye in the middle of his head. He had two antennae and a tail each featuring a plug on its tip. He had four fingers on each hand with similar plugs on the tip of each finger. Feedback only had two front toes. Gold battery bolts were on his shoulders, arms and hips. "This guy feels awesome!" Feedback cried. "I can see why Ben likes him."

"Interesting new form Hawke." Inner Moka praised. "What can this one do?"

"Not much." Feedback replied, flexing his fingers. "But this is pretty cool!" he shouted, turning and sending out a beam of electricity from the tips of his fingers that struck the Armopterra, that was currently flying above the tree line preparing to strike. The bat predator was hit in the chest, shocking it enough to make it stop flapping its wings and causing it to once again fall to the ground.

"Impressive. But if that is all he can do it would be best to use another form." Inner Moka told the alien.

"You're never very happy are you?" Feedback replied, rubbing the top of his head before becoming serious. "Hang on, I sense a radio signal." Feedback stated, listening intently to the ultrasonic frequency only he could hear. "It's coming from the Bioid, and its leading back to…" Feedback then turned back to his vampire friend. "Moka, we need to get back to Khyber's ship. I know how to stop this thing."

Inner Moka eyed the alien before nodding. "I don't know what you have planned but if it involves that ship then we should get back there now." Feedback's eye widened in surprise, prompting a strange look from the vampire. "What?"

"I just can't believe you actually agreed with me that easily." Feedback replied. Inner Moka's expression hardened at the comment, her face irritated. "I think we should go now." Feedback said quickly, not wanting to be kicked to the ship. Another screech prompted the teens to start moving. "I'll cover you!" Feedback cried as they began moving. Inner Moka was back to full speed as her healing factor had healed her leg.

As the two ran, Feedback shot out blasts that prevented the now flying Armopterra from getting close. Within two minutes, the pair were back at the ship. "What now?" Inner Moka asked, curious about Feedback's plan.

"I get a jumpstart." Feedback answered, jumping on top of the ship and using his antenna and tail to plug in to the ship where he began absorbing energy. Inner Moka looked on curiously as she observed the spectacle in front of her. Blue energy was pumping up from the ship, though Feedback's plug in's and in to his body.

Above the teens, the Armopterra was circling above them, poised to strike. Finally, after about seven circles, the creature dive bombed and attacked. With a victorious smirk, Feedback pulled his arms back before throwing them forward and sending a giant beam of azure electricity at the predator who attempted to dodge but had its wing clipped sending a massive electric shock through the Armopterra. The power of the beam was enough to blast off its wing. No longer able to fly, the predator crashed to the ground. Unplugging from the ship, Feedback quickly made his way over to the fallen alien being closely followed by Inner Moka.

As they approached, the Armopterra reverted back into the Bioid wolf that it had been originally.

"That device truly is like your Omnitrix." Inner Moka commented.

"Luckily it's the only one of its kind." Feedback responded, reaching out for the Nemetrix.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you." A familiar voice sounded that made the anger level of Feedback grow.

Inner Moka and Feedback turned to the top of the ship to see Khyber standing at the top, something slung over his shoulder.

"Khyber!" Feedback growled. "How did you get away from Rook!?"

"The Plumber isn't nearly as strong as he is when he is with Tennyson." Khyber replied, slinging the object he had on his shoulder to his feet. It was then that Feedback realised that it was an unconscious and beaten Rook!

"Rook!" Feedback cried.

"The Plumber actually thought he could beat me in combat. It was a pointless endeavour." Khyber bragged. "He put up so little of a fight that it was boring. Even you could do more."

"KHYBER!" Feedback shouted, pointing a finger at the huntsman. "Get down here and fight me!"

"I'm not your opponent." Khyber replied, tapping a button on his gauntlet. "You should pay more attention."

A beep sounded from behind the two teens causing them to turn and stare as the Bioid got back to its feet and transformed. Its body became more bug like, similar to a cockroach. On its head were two antenna and there were a further two antenna on its sides, each one having a jack plug socket attached. The alien was very large, almost as big as an elephant. On its back were four red wings and three pairs of long legs at it's sides. It possessed two large, red, bug like eyes. Its skin was a pale, ugly brown and on the side of its mouth were two short arms, each one having three fingers. Once the transformation was complete, the cockroach like alien opened up its mouth, causing it to split in to four revealing several rows of ugly jagged teeth.

"I think I'm gonna puke." Feedback said uncharacteristically, moving one of his hands to his mouth and gagged. Inner Moka didn't say anything but anyone could tell she was grimacing in disgust.

"One more thing." Khyber added from behind the teens, causing them to turn to him. However their eyes widened in shock to discover Khyber holding a gun towards Feedback. Before ever of them could move, Khyber shot a blue foam like substance at the Conductoid, hitting him dead centre in the chest, covering the Omnitrix symbol with the sticky substance.

"What the hell!?" Feedback cried as he attempted to remove the foam to no avail. "What is this stuff?!"

"Just a little something to keep you from transforming." Khyber answered with a smirk. "It should make the hunt more interesting."

Growling, Feedback quickly turned to Inner Moka. "We're gonna have to split up to fight these guys." Feedback told the vampire. "It will be faster if you take Khyber and I fight the monstrosity. Get his gauntlet, it controls the Nemetrix. If we get that, we can shut down the Bioid."

Inner Moka nodded, but before she went to attack Khyber she turned to Feedback and growled, "Be careful Hawke, I still need to teach you your place for kissing me without permission. Don't make me have to punish you for giving me orders."

Feedback actually flinched. "But that was to save our lives! I needed to take off the Rosario in order to release you!" He told her. _'Not that I didn't enjoy it.' _He thought as a side note.

"That is not an excuse." Inner Moka told him before jumping to the top of the ship in order to fight Khyber.

Feedback sighed before turning in time to see the cockroach like predator charging him, its six legs moving like lightning. Discharging electricity from his hand, Feedback took to the air and flew above the cockroach and just managed to dodge the attack. When he landed on the ground again, he turned and sent out a blast of electricity towards predator. Unfortunately, the alien merely manoeuvred its antenna towards the blast and absorbed it. The creature then opened up its ugly mouth and shot out a strong blast of black electricity. Feedback attempted to absorb the attack, but when the electricity struck him, he was in for a literal shock. The moment the blast hit his skin, Feedback was thrown back into a tree where pain coursed through his body. When it passed, Feedback struggled to get back to his feet. "This is going to be harder than I thought." The Conductoid said to himself as he moved to attack again.

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On the roof of the ship, Inner Moka was having a hard time getting a good hit on Khyber. She knew she was powerful enough to end the fight if she could get a solid hit on the huntsman but the green humanoid was proving to be far more evasive than she originally thought.

"Your attacks are impressive girl." Khyber commended as he ducked underneath one of the girls swivel kicks. "If I were like a human your attacks would probably hit me. Unfortunately, I have trained to hunt some of the fastest species. Which includes tracking their movements." He explained as he used his hand to block a jab by moving it to the side.

"It looks like I underestimated you huntsman." Inner Moka commented as she swept her leg in an arc to try and knock the huntsman of his feet. Unfortunately, Khyber merely jumped over her leg. "However you threatened my Outer self and for that you must pay."

"Bring it on!" Khyber challenged, "You shall be a great challenge, I can sense great power coming from you."

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Back with Feedback and the cockroach predator, the Conductoid was struggling to stay alive. Feedback had long since discovered that his electricity was useless against this creature. Like himself, the predator had the ability to absorb energy attacks. Unlike him it could shoot out energy that he was unable to absorb in the form of black lightning.

Once again using his arms to discharge electricity to dodge another attack, Feedback took to the air and used the trees for cover to hide himself from the predator. However, Feedback didn't know that the predator was able to track the static electricity that Feedback possessed in his body. Instantly, the one of predator's antenna shot out and ensnared the Conductoid in the tree by his neck, pulling him out of hiding. Next the predators other antenna stot out and connected with both of Feedback's antenna as well as his tail. Using its small arms, the creature held on to Feedback's arms, keeping him in place. Suddenly, blue electricity began flowing from Feedback in to the cockroach like alien, causing Feedback to scream as he felt, what he guessed was, his life force being sucked from him.

"Lightsssooouut." The creature hissed as it continued to hold Feedback.

'_What!?' _Feedback thought through the pain. _'It can talk?'_

"Lightssssout!" The creature hissed again.

'_Is that its name?' _Feedback wondered.

"Lightsout!" The creature cried, increasing the rate in which it absorbed the energy from Feedback.

"AAAHHHHH!" Feedback cried in agony as it felt like he was dying. _'Am I going to die?' _Feedback thought as he grew weaker. _'What will happen to my friends? Moka should be able to handle Khyber, but what happens if she has to fight the Nemetrix aliens as well?'_

"Let him go!" A familiar, angry voice cried as a boy surrounded in a red aura came out of nowhere and punched Lightsout in its ugly face, sending the creature careening back, disconnecting it from Feedback and causing the Conductoid to drop to the ground, reverting back into Christian in a flash of green.

His saviour quickly ran over to him and bent down to check on him, the aura around him dying quickly. "Bro, are you okay?" Zack asked, using his hand to support his friend whilst shaking his other, presumably the one he used to hit the predator.

"Zack…" Christian murmured weakly. "What…are you doing here?"

"I came to help." Zack replied.

"Zack, I appreciate it but you need to get away from that thing. I can handle it" Christian told him worryingly, attempting to get back to his feet and failing.

"Are you crazy!? You can barely stand on your own at the minute!" Zack responded as he took a hold of the Omnitrix with his left hand, placing his right on his left wrist. "I don't care what you say, I can help and that's what I'm going to do."

"Zack, what are you-?" Christian began before something strange happened. Suddenly, blue and green sparks blasted out of Christian and Zack's bodies as well as the Omnitrix. Both boys were crying out in great amounts of pain as a blue aura surrounded both boys. Underneath Zack's hand, his skin was beginning to bubble and shift, changing as it did so.

The Lightsout had recovered and was now watching the spectacle in intrigue. It feasted on energy and that was what was shooting out of Christian, Zack and the Omnitrix. Hungrily, the alien approached the sparking teens. However, before it even got close, a shot of electricity shot out and struck the creature on it's under belly sending it flying back into a tree.

As the energy continued to grow between the two teens, so did the pain, especially for Zack who felt as if his entire biology was changing. _'What the hell is happening!?' _Zack mentally screamed. _'Nothing like this has ever happened when I did this before!' _

Finally, the energy died down. However, just a moment before the energy died down completely, it suddenly grew exponentially until there was an explosion between Christian and Zack, throwing them away from each other. Their clothes were now burned and singed, Zack was missing the left sleeve of both his school blazer and his shirt.

Christian, who had landed against a tree, looked up groggily and painfully to see something that shocked him down to the core. On Zack's now exposed left wrist was a familiar black and green device that Christian had grown to become very familiar with over the past two months. On Zack's wrist was an exact replica of the Omnitrix on Christian's wrist.

However it didn't stay that way for long. Within seconds, the device on Zack's wrist began to bubble and change in shape and appearance. It spread and elongated, moving up to cover the back of his hand. The face plate disappeared and became a circular dial with the Omnitrix symbol in the centre. A strap spread out and wrapped around Zack's palm to keep it in place. Finally, there was a few small sparks of electricity which caused the device to change colour from green to blue

Christian was shocked. What he was seeing wasn't possible. How could Zack possibly grow his own Omnitrix? Suddenly, Zack began to get to his feet. His movements were slow and uneven and his hair was covering his eyes. Slowly, he turned and began walking towards the recovering Lightsout. Without so much as touching the new feature to his body, Zack began to shift and change. His body became taller, more muscular and plant like. Most of his skin became a pale clue except his hands where they became black. Plant like shoots grew from his arms and legs whilst blue petals grew on his head giving it a flame like appearance. His eyes were cerulean blue with a scar over his left eye. A blue Omnitrix symbol on his chest.

Christian automatically recognised this form as Swampfire. Albeit a different colour scheme and looking slightly more muscular. Positive Swampfire moved slowly over to the Cockroach like predator. Raising his arms, Positive Swampfire let out a loud battle cry and sent out a blaze of azure flames at the predator.

The predator let out a cry, the blaze burning its body causing it to writher and shake. The creature tried to get away but Positive Swampfire yelled louder and the blaze increased in area. Suddenly a red aura began to spread over Positive Swampfire's body, causing it to transform once again. His body increased in size and volume. His plant like body became more wooden and turned charcoal black. Sapphire, goo like pods appeared on his arms and developed on his back, which spread to his face, enveloping it. The Omnitrix symbol grew four spikes which stuck out in an 'x' formation.

Christian recognised this form as well. It was Ultimate Swampfire. The blaze that Ultimate Positive Swampfire was emitting grew exponentially until in completely enveloped the predator. With a final cry, the predator was disintegrated by the intense heat of the attack. The indestructible Nemetrix falling to the ground, its exterior blackened. Ultimate Positive Swampfire's attack continued though, blazing through several trees and turning them to ash instantly.

Finally, Ultimate Positive Swampfire's attack died down before finally ceasing, leaving the evolved alien panting.

His attack had not gone unnoticed though. Back at the ship, Inner Moka and Khyber had seen the attack, both had thought it had been Christian to attack as they didn't know Zack was with him. "Incredible…" Khyber stated, letting his guard down long enough for Moka to finally land a hit.

"Learn your place!" She shouted as she kicked Khyber right in the chest, sending him careening through several trees and rendering him unconscious. Acting quickly, Inner Moka hurried over to his unconscious body and removed the gauntlet she had seen him press a button on earlier. Increasing the pressure she had on the gauntlet, she crushed it easily. "That's that." Inner Moka said with her eyes closed, dropping the gauntlet and cleansing her hands by slapping them together. "Now to check on Hawke. That attack was quite powerful. He must be done by now."

"Excuse me, miss."

Inner Moka turned to see the blue, furred humanoid that Christian had referred to as Rook. "Yes."

"You are Moka Akashiya correct?" Rook asked, he looked tired and beaten.

"What of it?" Inner Moka asked, crossing her arms.

"Could I please have your assistance releasing the students from Khyber's ship?" The Revonnahgander asked. "We must release them before they wake up. It would be bad if a student other than yourself were to discover the existence of alien species."

Inner Moka wanted to check on Christian but she had to agree with Rook's statement. If a student were to wake up and see one off Khyber's trophies and link them to Christian, he could be put to death. "Fine, but let's do it quickly." Inner Moka replied as the pair moved towards the ship.

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Back with Christian, the teen was staring in shock as Ultimate Positive Swampfire began to revert, becoming more human like and reverting into Zack. Cautiously, Christian approached his friend, who had his back turned to him.

"Zack, are you okay?" Christian asked, reaching out to place a hand on his friends shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"You're a liar." Zack said simply, pulling away from Christian.

"Zack?" Christian said again, putting up his guard. "How did you do that?"

"You lied to me." Zack said again, turning towards him, his eyes covered by his hair.

"Zack…" Christian repeated, reaching for the Omnitrix in self-defence.

"You will pay!" Zack shouted, his body being covered in a blue aura. His body began to transform. Once the aura had faded, a copy of Feedback stood before Christian. The only differences being that where Christian's Feedback had a green stipe running down the middle, Zack had blue. Positive Feedback's eye was also blue and hand a scar running over it.

"Crap!" Christian cried as he activated his Omnitrix and transformed into the first icon that appeared, which happened to be XLR8. Positive Feedback sent out a blast of electricity at XLR8 but the speedy alien was quick to dodge the attack, dashing to the side just out of the attacks reach. "Zack, calm down!" XLR8 shouted, only to have to move again as Positive Feedback shot at him again. "This isn't you!"

"SHUT UP!" Positive Feedback cried as he let out blast after blast of electricity in a futile attempt to hit XLR8

"Don't make me have to hurt you Zack!" XLR8 threatened as he stopped again.

"Don't talk to me as if you're my friend!" Positive Feedback shouted, his anger rising. "I see now that you never believed that!" The angered Conductoid ceased his attacks to glare at XLR8.

"Zack, what are you talking about?!" XLR8 cried. "Of course I'm your friend!"

"LIES!" Positive Feedback cried, a red aura beginning to secrete from him.

"Zack, whatever you did when you touched the Omnitrix has corrupted your mind." XLR8 tried to reason, all thought of keeping the Omnitrix a secret gone from his head as he focused on helping his friend.

However inside Zack's head, a battle was raging between Zack's rationality and the power he had just acquired. And the power was winning

Zack could hear a voice saying _"He lied to me."_

The aura around Positive Feedback began to grow.

"_He hates me" _

Suddenly Positive Feedback's body began to change, his tail, head and hands becoming pure electricity.

"_He shunned me."_

His suit changed becoming a full body containment suit that was blue on his chest and side as well at the base of the pants legs, everywhere else was black.

"_He's using me." _

Several more gold batteries formed around his body, more specifically on his feet and on his lower chest. The batteries he already possessed expanded and increased in length.

"_He's scared of me."_

Finally the Omnitrix symbol on his chest grew four prongs out of its sides, completing the transformation.

"_He's dead to me."_

XLR8 could only watch in horror as the transformation completed itself. "Oh no…"

_"He lied to me..."_

"_He shot at me..."_

"_He hate on me..."_

"_He's using me..."_

"_Afraid of me..."_

"_He's dead to me..."_

"AND NOW CHRISTIAN HAWKE'S MY ENEMY!" Ultimate Positive Feedback cried as he sent a massive surge of electricity at XLR8, who had been too stunned to dodge.

The attack hit it's mark, sending XLR8 flying back in to a tree, electricity jolting through his body. "AAHHHHH!" The alien screamed landing on the ground whilst withering in pain.

Ultimate Positive Feedback then disappeared in flash of light, only to reappear behind the downed XLR8. Picking him up by the tail, the evolved alien began throwing around the other, spinning him in the air before throwing him into another tree.

XLR8 landed painfully on his back. As he recovered, XLR8 considered using his own evolution feature. Reaching for the symbol on his chest, the memory of the beaten and bloodied class rep appeared in his mind making him hesitate. What would happen if he did that to Zack? Deciding to take another course of action, XLR8 tapped on the Omnitrix symbol and transformed into Diamondhead again, knowing that he would be immune to the evolved aliens electricity.

Charging, Diamondhead shot several diamond shard towards the Ultimate Positive Feedback as a distraction. The Ultimate alien simply teleported to the other side of the attack but didn't expect Diamondhead to already be there waiting for him. The silicon like alien punched the evolved alien in the chest, winding him before sweeping his legs out from under him causing the other alien to fall to the ground. Acting quickly, Diamondhead made crystals grow out of the ground and ensnare Ultimate Positive Feedback, grounding his electricity and keeping him from teleporting.

"Zack you need to calm down." Diamondhead tried again. "The power has corrupted your mind. I can help you."

"You've done enough!" Ultimate Positive Feedback responded spitefully.

"Zack, I'm guessing I can turn into everything you can." Diamondhead replied sternly. "Fighting is pointless. Just change back and let's talk about this."

"Never!" The evolved alien cried. "You think you're better than me! You think you can just lock me up! Well I'll show you!" His eyes were wide with hate. Suddenly, his eye turned yellow and the silhouette of an unfamiliar being appeared in it.

Automatically, his body began to change, becoming more metallic and bulky. His colours became sliver and his torso became gold. Blue lights appeared over his body whilst his face became squarer. The new alien didn't have a mouth. His body grew several meters becoming taller than Humungousaur. The back of its legs became rounder and grew three blue lights running down. It possessed a blue visor on its head and the blue Omnitrix symbol was on its shoulder. Due to its increased size, the alien easily broke through the crystal shackles that in cased it.

Upon being freed, the mechanical alien got to its feet where it let out a mighty roar shouting "Me am Grimlock!"

Diamondhead took a step back in fear. He had never seen this alien before. How the hell did Zack have it? The silicon like alien didn't have time to think as the mechanical one in front of him swept low and punched him in the face with one of its massive fists. The blow sent Diamondhead flailing back, performing several flips before landing on his back. Before he could get up, Diamondhead could feel a huge weight being pressed on his back as Positive Grimlock placed one of his giant feet on him and pushed down, the pressure causing the silicon like alien to crack. "Grimlock defeat you." The titan alien spoke as he pressed down harder on Diamondhead's back, it appeared that this alien wasn't the most intelligent. "Grimlock superior to puny Human."

Diamondhead's eyes widened. Zack knew he was human. How? When did he find out? That could be answered later, for if he didn't do something now, Zack would kill him. Positive Grimlock raised his hand only for the hilt of a blade to eject from his wrist. The hilt grew until it had become a large, deadly red blade. Clenching his sword in both hands, Positive Grimlock raised the sword high above his head and prepared to strike his former friend. "Your time is up!" He cried, just before he began to bring the blade down.

"Learn your place!" A familiar voice sounded as Inner Moka jumped from high above the trees and came down at high speeds using both her legs to push Positive Grimlock off of Diamondhead. Positive Grimlock stumbled backwards slightly, his sword still in his hand.

When she landed, Inner Moka automatically went to help Christian. "Hawke, are you alright?" After freeing her fellow classmates, Inner Moka had quickly made her way towards the sounds of battle, leaving Rook to care for the people they had rescued

Struggling to his feet, Diamondhead gave her a smile. "Nothing I can't fix." He said as his crystals regenerated, the cracks mending themselves until he looked as good as new.

"Good." Inner Moka nodded before scowling at Positive Grimlock. "However I thought you said that if I destroyed the gauntlet that beast would change back to normal."

"That's not the Bioid." Diamondhead replied. "That's Zack."

Inner Moka was actually flabbergasted, something she couldn't say happened very often. "That thing is Orion?" She asked, not believing what she had just heard.

"I don't know how he did it but somehow he made a copy of the Omnitrix by touching it." Diamondhead explained. "And somehow he turned into that." He said, pointing towards the metal titan who was currently weighing his options.

"You don't have that form?" Inner Moka inquired with a raised brow.

"No, I don't." The silicon like lifeform replied. _'Wish I did though.'_ He though absently. "Listen Moka, we need to take him down. Zack isn't thinking straight, the power has corrupted him. He needs help now."

"Fine, I'll assist you in this." Inner Moka told her friend. "But you owe me for this."

"NO!" Positive Grimlock shouted, gaining the pairs attention. Despite the way he talked the metal alien was smart and he realised that he wouldn't be able to beat them together, especially now that Inner Moka was helping. Deciding on a course of action, the metal titan swung his sword across the ground sideways causing dirt to fly towards the alien/monster pair and prevent them from seeing Positive Grimlock transform into a small, parrot like alien wearing a blue and black jumpsuit with the blue Omnitrix symbol on his left shoulder.

Opening his glider and discharging blue energy from the jetpack like structure on his back, Positive Astrodactyl took to the air and hovered just above the pair. "You called yours the Omnitrix, Bro!" The alien called down to Diamondhead. "But I think I'll call mine the Ultramatrix as its better than yours!" With that, Positive Astrodactyl soared higher, creating a sonic boom sending him propelled at high speeds away from Diamondhead and Inner Moka, disappearing from view.

As soon as Zack had disappeared from view, Inner Moka and Diamondhead relaxed but both were distressed, although Inner Moka wouldn't show it. In a flash, Diamondhead reverted back to Christian where he dropped to his knees and pounded his fist against the ground. "Damn it!" He cried. "What else could go wrong!?"

Almost as if fate had answered his call, the sound of a powerful engine reverberated through the area. Christian and Inner Moka turned to see Khyber's ship taking off. It was hundreds of meters in the air within a few seconds. The ship then turned and began flying of at high speeds to the east, cloaking as it did so and disappearing from sight.

Sharing a quick look, Christian turned to where he had seen the Nemetrix drop to. Much to his horror the device had disappeared. Growling, Christian turned and ran back to the area where the ship had once been, Inner Moka following behind him. Once in the clearing, Christian was able to see two things; the still unconscious bodies of his fellow classmates, safely together laying up against a tree. The other thing was the beaten body of Rook, who look like he was in a great amount of pain. Quickly running over to the Revonnahgander, Christian quickly checked him over, happy to find that his friend wasn't seriously hurt. It appeared that his Proto-armour had taken the brunt of whatever had attacked him and saved him from serious harm.

"Uhhh…" Rook moaned.

"Easy Rook." Christian warned, holding his friends back. "What happened to you?"

"Khyber had a partner." Rook told him. "It happened so fast, I never saw him coming. He took Khyber and escaped using his vessel."

"He took the Nemetrix too." Christian told him regretfully. "The Bioid was destroyed though."

Painfully, Rook got to his feet. "I need to report to Magister Tennyson. He must know about this."

"Rook, there's something else." Christian said, his expression down cast. Christian proceeded to tell Rook everything about what had just happened with Zack.

"That is distressing news." Rook replied, his hand on his chin. "You are in danger if you stay here. You should return with me to Bellwood where we can organise a plan to assist your friend."

Inner Moka's eyes widened slightly. Christian was going to leave?

"No Rook." Christian replied. "I'm staying here. Zack is dangerous at the moment and he could hurt somebody."

"But Christian, if Zack knows you are a human, then you are in danger of being executed." Rook argued.

"I won't let that happen." Inner Moka said, taking a step forward. "I won't let anyone take Hawke's blood away from me." She added, causing both Christian and Rook to sweat drop.

'_I appreciate the thought but get your priorities straight.' _ Christian thought as he smiled awkwardly. "Thanks." He replied before turning back to Rook. "Go back to base. Tell them what happen and that I'm handling Zack."

Rook nodded but still looked unsure. "I will send help as soon as I arrive at the base." He said before heading off in to the forest, most likely heading back to his ship. It was then that Christian realised he had no idea how Rook even got to the academy. _'I need to be more assertive.' _He thought as he turned to look at the sky. _'Zack I'm sorry for what I said to you. I promise I will make it right.'_

"Hawke, we should get the students to the infirmary." Inner Moka told him, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Right, sorry." He said as he moved to use the Omnitrix to turn in to an alien that could help.

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Khyber awoke to find that he was back on his ship. Looking around he saw that it was in space.

"I see you're awake now." A voice said from in front of him causing the huntsman to turn and see a figure dressed black. He wore a long, open leather trench coat over the top of armour that covered his entire upper body up to his neck, designed to show off his muscular form. On his lower body were black trousers and on his face was a helmet that didn't have any eye holes and was designed to cover his entire head. "How was your nap?"

"The girl was more powerful than I expected." Khyber replied. "I will be more careful next time." The huntsman took notice that a singed Nemetrix had been placed on the ships dashboard.

"Of course you will." His employer replied, his calm tone making it hard to tell whether he was being sarcastic. "You didn't keep to our arrangement."

"What?" Khyber asked, slightly confused.

"Christian Hawke was supposed to receive my message before you killed him." The figure replied.

"How was I supposed to know that he hadn't received it?" Khyber asked, slightly irritated.

"You could have asked." His employer stated simply. Khyber gave the figure a strange look before sighing and deciding to let the matter go. Ever since he had met this man, the huntsman had not been able to fully understand his employer's methods. "It is a shame you lost the Bioid though. It could have been useful to you." His employer continued.

Khyber smirked and moved over to a wall and pressed on a panel that had been imbedded as a switch. Instantly the wall opened to reveal several copies of the Bioid, each one wearing its own copy of the Nemetrix. "Interesting fact about a Panuncian, every time it copies itself it also copies any item its holding, even if it is level twenty technology."

"Very clever my friend." His employer praised. "I'm impressed by your levels perception."

"Why thank you." Khyber replied. "Hawke and his mate have proven themselves to be worthy pray. I look forward to the next hunt."

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In the Security Committee Headquarters, Kuyo was sitting in his personal files going over the files for the members of the Newspaper Club when there was a knock on his door.

"Enter." He ordered, not looking up from his files. The committee head heard the door open and the familiar footsteps of Keito approach him.

"Sir, there has been a development." Keito told her master, a smug smirk on her face.

"What is it?" Kuyo asked, still not looking up.

"Zackery Orion has come to see you sir." Keito answered, taking pleasure in that fact. "He says he wishes to join us."

Kuyo finally looked up from his files, a small smile on his face. "Has he now? Then by all means, bring him to me." With a bow Keito walked out of the room, only to return a few minutes later with a scowling Zack on heels. Kuyo took notice of his burnt and wrecked uniform as well as the blue looking device strapped to the back of his hand. "Mister Orion, it is good to hear that you have finally accepted our offer to join the enforcers." Kuyo began moving out from behind his desk so that he was standing in front of Zack. "However, since you originally declined it, I'm afraid you must once again prove you are worthy of joining us."

Zack's facial expression didn't change as he replied, "I have information you can use."

"And that is?" Kuyo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That a human has entered the confines of the academy." Zack stated, his resolve never once faltering. "Christian Hawke is a human being."

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**And there you go. I hope you all enjoyed it and I want to thank Lewamus Prime for the ideas of Lightsout and Armopterra, as well as Omnifiction for some of the speech used. **

**The end of the first arc has officially begun. Zack's abilities and a bit of his past will be explained next chapter so if anyone is confused you can find out next. **

**I hope you all enjoyed the appearance of Grimlock, he will be appearing regularly as Zack's favourite alien. **

**As always please leave your reviews so I know what went well and what can be improved.**

**Quick note, Zack will be naming his aliens finishing moves from now on due to a request from his creator.**


	12. Chapter 11

**Hey guys, it is the beginning of the end. The first arc is coming to a close. I've been looking forward to writing this for a while and I hope you enjoy part one of the Enforcer arc. **

**Also, two quick notes, there have been a few changes to Zack's profile on the first chapter which explain more about his Omnitrix. And, if you can imagine it, I think John Noble has the best voice for the character of Khyber's boss/employer who appeared in the last two chapters. **

**Anyway, enjoy the show. **

"**..." Speech**

'**...' Quote **

'**Hi' Thought**

"**Learn your place!" Inner Moka through Rosario**

**Feedback=Christian**

**Positive Feedback=Zack**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC, everything else belongs to their own creators. **

**Alien Watch in a Monster School**

**Flames of Destruction**

"Christian Hawke, a human?" Kuyo remarked in disbelief at Zack's claim. "I don't believe it. No filthy human should ever be able to pass through the great barrier undetected."

"Well this one did." Zack stated, crossing his arms in boredom. "He has been here for months and you have been absolutely clueless." A small, smug smirk appeared on his face. "Kind of stings, doesn't it?" Kuyo snarled, he did not like being talked down to.

"How can Hawke be human?" Keito questioned. "We have had numerous reports of him transforming into various different monsters."

"But out of those monsters did anyone actually recognise what species they belonged to?" Zack questioned.

Keito actually took a moment to think about the question before answering. "Only the werewolf form he turned into." She finally answered. "However it didn't have a werewolf's natural abilities."

"Christian is able to turn into those creatures thanks to the thing on his left wrist." Zack reported. "He claims that it is a limiter and if it is removed his various forms will overload and kill him instantly. However I believe he is lying. That device he called, the Omnitrix, is what enables his to transform. Remove it and you shall see through his deception."

"And how may I ask did you come to acquire the device on the back of your hand." Kuyo asked, pointing to what Zack had dubbed the Ultramatrix. "It appears very much like this acclaimed device Hawke possesses.

"Sorry." Zack replied, a rebellious expression on his face. "Trade secret."

Kuyo growled at Zack, hating the fact that the teen thought he could defy him. Unfortunately he knew Zack was powerful and he needed him on his side. "Very well, keep your secret. I'm sure I'll know soon enough."

"So, how long is it until I get my own black coat?" Zack asked. "Anything is better than the lame school uniform."

"I…appreciate the information you have supplied us," Kuyo started, a smirk on his face. "However, as I said before you have already declined our offer. The information you've supplied us is useful however all you did was the duty that every student should uphold. If you wish to join us now, prove to us your abilities in combat."

Zack eyes narrowed at how Kuyo had changed his original requirements for entry. However if all he needed to do was beat someone in fight, this would be over quickly. Especially now that he had the power of Christian's transformations and the new one he had unlocked. "Fine then, but I get to choose my opponent." Zack replied.

"That is the common tradition." Kuyo stated. "Please, take some time to walk around and choose your opponent."

"I don't need to." Zack stated. "I choose her." He declared, pointing directly at Keito.

"Me?" Keito asked, slightly surprised.

"Yeah, I still owe you payback for throwing me off that bloody roof!" Zack stated, raising his voice towards the end.

Kuyo thought about it before saying, "If Keito is who you wish to challenge then she will be your opponent."

"Good, I've been looking forward to this." Zack stated, pounding his fists together.

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Zack and Keito stood at two ends of a square arena located in the back of the Security Committees shrine. Around them were all the members of the committee, every single one of them wanting to see the power of their possible new recruit. They knew Keito was one of the most powerful enforcers, only a fool would challenge her.

Kuyo watched with hawk like eyes trained on Zack. The blonde teen wanted to evaluate Zack's skills, especially now that he had betrayed the friends he had in that infernal Newspaper Club.

In the arena, a lower member of the committee walked to the middle and began reciting the rules of the match. It wasn't anything special. It mostly stated that the use of monster form was permitted but you couldn't kill your opponent. The match was won by the person who forced their opponent to yield.

Both nodding to confirm they understood the rules, Keito and Zack got into their fighting positions. Keito transformed into her monster form which basically was six yellow and black spider legs growing out from her lower torso, forcing the girl to move her uniform up to prevent it ripping.

"I hope you're ready Orion." Keito mocked, her face suddenly changing. Her eyes became purple and bug like, two extra, smaller eyes appearing either side of the other two, slightly covered by the girls purple hair. Her mouth elongated, two giant pincers appearing in the top of her mouth and another two smaller ones growing upwards. Overall, she was pretty ghastly.

"Someone just opened up a can of ugly." Zack commented, faking a grimace as he stood care free. "I guess anything I do isn't going to make a change."

I tick appeared on Keito's face as her anger spiked to a level in which she didn't know was possible. Zack had been rude to her, embarrassed her, made her look like an idiot and now he had the audacity to mock her appearance. She now had the chance to make her pay.

"I hope you're ready Orion." She said just before she started charging, her spider like legs moving. "Your own mother's not going to recognise you after this!" She shouted. "Not that she'd care! She's probably just a heartless pig!"

At that moment, something inside Zack snapped. The silhouette of a strange humanoid appearing in his eye. Suddenly, a blue aura spread across his body causing it to grow and change much to the shock of the enforcers around him. Kuyo even leaned in closer to get a better look. "Time to roll out." Zack growled. The teen's body became larger and more robust, his arms hardening and crystallising whilst his skin became a light blue. The back of his elbows elongated and became more blade like. His clothes changed into an all-black suit with short sleeves and included a hood which covered the aliens head, a small red patch was on the left sleeve. Six crystal shards grew out of his back, the top two bigger than the other four. On his crystal like face was a crack in the shape of a scar over his left blue eye. The Ultramatrix symbol was present on the red patch on his shoulder.

Despite the fact he currently hated Christian, Zack couldn't help but feel the need to cry out the name of the creature he had turned into. "Diamondhead!"

Zack's sudden transformation left the enforcers flabbergasted. Kuyo's eyes widened in surprise. How was it possible that Zack had acquired Hawkes abilities to transform? It must have something to do with the blue looking device that had been present on his hand.

Positive Diamondhead looked up at the charging Keito with hate filled eyes. Keito attempted to use her razor sharp legs to pierce Positive Diamondhead's diamond like skin to no effect. Realising that she needed a different approach, Keito scurried backwards and shot out a line of webbing from her mouth that Positive Diamondhead blocked with his arm, allowing the web like substance to splatter against it.

Attempting to use her web to throw the silicon like alien, Keito pulled on the sticky thread. Positive Diamondhead moved slightly but otherwise remained in place. _'What?!' _Keito thought in surprise, attempting to pull on her webbing again to no avail. _'Why isn't he moving?' _Keito looked over Positive Diamondhead before receiving her answer. Around the silicon like aliens feet were a collection of crystals that was keeping him secured in the ground where he was standing.

Keito's eyes widened in fear as Positive Diamondhead used his left hand to grab hold of the webbing whilst morphing his right arm into a blade and cutting the web attached to his other arm. Positive Diamondhead then proceeded to pull on the web with enough force to bring Keito flying towards him. Just before the spider girl hit him, Positive Diamondhead punched Keito in the face sending her rolling back a few feet. As she struggled to rise, Keito looked up to see Positive Diamondhead raising his hands in the air and forcing large blue crystals to rise out of the ground and hover in the air above her. The silicon like alien then threw his arms down and made the crystal fall towards Keito, who only just managed to scurry out of the way before they impacted. Breathing heavily, Keito looked up to see Positive Diamondhead walking slowly towards her. Taking a few steps back, Keito tried to reason with her foe.

"C'mon Orion, we both know that things can end badly for you if you hurt me. Let's just call us even and go our separate ways." Keito pleaded as she desperately tried to get away.

"Shut up." Positive Diamondhead spat. "You went too far insulting my family. No one insults my mother." Suddenly, more chunks of blue crystal rose from the ground and surrounded Keito. Throwing his arms out, Positive Diamondhead forced the crystals to slam into Keito with enough force to bring her to the edge of unconsciousness. Just before she succumbed to darkness, the spider girl heard Positive Diamondhead growl, "Crystal Emperor." As the girl finally closed her eyes, the silicon like alien turned and began walking away, morphing back into his human form as he did so.

"Bravo." An obnoxious voice said from behind Zack, causing the boy to turn and face the approaching Kuyo. "You have proved yourself worthy of joining us. Not only did you beat one of my top lieutenants but you also put on quite a show while doing so. Welcome to the enforcers."

"Thanks I guess." Zack replied, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Go, change into your new uniform and get some rest." Kuyo told the raven haired boy before walking away. "Tomorrow, we purge the human menace from our school."

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Christian had, had one hell of a day. He was currently sitting in his dorm room, pondering the actions he was going to need to take in order to help Zack. After wishing Rook farewell, Christian and Inner Moka had proceeded carry the students Khyber had kept in captivity to the infirmary. Once everyone was accounted for and Moka had her Rosario back in place, the two friends sat in silence until Kurumu and Yukari finally woke up, at which point Christian was proceeded to be smothered by the grateful girls, who thankfully didn't remember much of their encounter with Khyber.

Of course the attitude sobered when Christian revealed what had happened to Zack, of course leaving out certain 'sensitive' information related to Christian. At that point, the nurse had come in and told Christian that some of the teachers had wanted to talk to him. After reassuring the concerned girls that everything would be fine, Christian made his way to the teacher's lounge where he was first given the punishment of having detention every day after school until the end of the year for doing something as stupid as going after a kidnapper and for breaking into the teachers' lounge. Apparently they had found out about his little adventure as Big Chill. After listening to a lecture from Ms. Nekonome about personal safety and not going after murderers. She let that settle in for a few moments before smiling at him and pulling Christian in to a hug. The cat like teacher then congratulated Christian on saving eight students, including Moka and his other friends, and forcing the culprit away from Yokai Academy. For that, he was rewarded with having his punishment for going after Khyber taken away. So basically, Christian had gotten off scot free.

After that, Christian was told to return to dorm. However on the way he received quite a shock. No sooner had he left the school grounds did Christian find a whole crowd of students waiting for him. For the briefest of seconds, Christian thought that they were going to attack him, He was still unpopular with some of the students for the incident with the class rep. But this wasn't the case. No sooner had he appeared did the other students begin cheering, congratulating Christian for saving over a dozen students, including the ones taken by Ishigami, not to mention stopping the evil medusa. Then there was getting Nagare expelled, which many girls were happy about. Finally, Christian was willing to sacrifice himself in order save his fellow students, and in the eyes of the other students, Christian had proved he cared about them and he was a good person. As he passed by them, students patted him on the back and apologised for the way he had treated them over the past few months. This carried on until the Omnitrix wielder had reached the dorms where he quickly made his way to his room and locked the door, not used to all the good will that had been shown towards him.

And that was how Christian ended back in his dorm room. Instinctively, he moved over to his laptop to make a report only to remember that Plumber Communications were down and he wouldn't be able to contact anyone until the communications relay was fixed. Sighing, Christian leaned back in his chair. He was in trouble. If Zack knew his secret, he could easily reveal it to anyone, in which case all the progress he had recently made would mean nothing. His friends would probably turn on him, especially since he had been lying to them since the beginning. And what would happen to Moka if his secret came out? She had known about him since the beginning and had technically been aiding him in keeping his identity unknown. What would her punishment be?

Finally, what would happen to Zack? Christian had absolutely no idea how he had been able to grow his own Omnitrix. He guessed that whatever had happened was a result of Zack's monster abilities, whatever he was. However that wasn't important at the minute, Zack was a danger to himself at the minute. He had no idea about the level of power he currently possessed. He could very easily hurt someone if he went out of control…well more out of control than he already was. Thankfully, Zack's anger seemed to be focused on him at the minute so hopefully he would avoid any serious confrontations with other students. There was one more issue. Christian had no idea how many aliens Zack had access to. It could be only the aliens he had or it could be all the aliens in the Omnitrix. If that were the case, Zack was now more powerful than any opponent he or the Plumbers had ever faced. Especially if he had was able to turn into _that _alien. Zack also had that new form he had called Grimlock. Christian had no idea what it was capable of, but from first-hand experience he knew that Grimlock was tough.

Deciding that he needed to find Zack, Christian got up from his chair only to notice something on his desk that didn't belong. A letter in a white envelope with a red seal on the back, addressed to him was sitting next to his laptop. Taking hold of the letter, Christian ran two fingers along it's side. There didn't seem to be anything in the letter other than paper, he couldn't feel anything hard in it. At first, Christian wondered if Rook had left it there when he had been in his room earlier, but then again, the Revonnahgander would have told him about it. In that case, where did it come from?

Slowly, Christian undid the letter, curious as to what was in it. Just as he was about pull out its contents, he heard a knock on the door. Opening up one of his draws and stuffing the letter inside to look at later, Christian walked over to the door. However, before opening the he made sure to check the small peep hole in the door, he had to be careful in case Zack came looking for him at the dorm. Then again Zack probably wouldn't knock on the door. Looking through it, Christian was surprised to see a nervous Moka standing on the other side. Quickly opening the door, Christian greeted, "Hey Moka, what are you doing here?"

"Well…I wanted to check on you." The girl answered. "You seemed a little out of it when you went to see the teachers."

Christian's eyes widened slightly. "Well, it's cold out here." He replied, looking around. "Why don't you come in?"

Moka nodded, a light blush on her features, which of course Christian missed. Once the two were inside, Christian made sure to lock the door behind them. Sitting down at the table, Christian proceeded to tell Moka everything that had happened after he had left the infirmary. Moka was quite surprised to hear the weird talk he had with Ms. Nekonome, however she was overjoyed to know hear that the other students treating Christian well. She certainly believed he deserved it after everything he had done for the school.

Finally, the conversation turned to Zack and their friends. "What are you going to do Christian?" Moka asked, concern evident in her eyes. "I know you want to help Zack but you're in danger now. Perhaps you…" Moka trailed off, not liking what she was about to say. "Maybe you should go back to Bellwood."

"Moka, I can't." Christian replied. "Zack is my responsibility, I need to help him."

"But-" Moka started.

"There are no buts Moka." Christian interrupted. "It's my fault Zack's like he is now. I should have treated him better."

"What happened with Zack wasn't your fault." Moka said, reaching out and placing one of her hands on top of Christian's in an attempt to comfort him.

"But it is Moka!" Christian cried, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "I was the one who made him feel insignificant! I pushed him away!" Christian then placed his head into his hands and let the tears flow. "I should have been a better friend, hell I should been a better person." He whimpered.

"Christian…" Moka said in a monotone like voice, causing the teen to look up at the vampire girl.

*SLAP!*

No sooner had he looked up had Moka slapped him around the face. Now with a red mark on his cheek, Christian looked at his friend only to find that she was now looking angrily at him with tears in her eyes. "Don't say that!" Moka shouted. "Don't ever say that! You always do what you have to in order to keep us, your friends, safe!" The pinkette argued. "You risk your life for people you don't even know or that hated you! You are a good person!"

Christian looked at Moka with wide eyes, surprised by her words. It seemed that whenever he was down Moka was right there with exactly the right words to cheer him up. She was the personification of the word, amazing. For a few more moments, Christian and Moka continued to stare in to the others eyes, slowly leaning towards each other.

Of course the moment was then spoilt by the sound of knocking on the door. Christian and Moka remained still for a moment before realising how close they were to one another. Quicker than lightning, the two backed away from each other, their faces enflamed in crimson.

"I had better…" Christian began.

"Yeah…" Moka replied, not able to look at Christian out of embarrassment.

Getting up, Christian quickly made his way over to the door and answered it, leaving Moka at his table feeling a little uncomfortable. It was at that point the Rosario began to glow.

"**Uhhh! I can't take much more of this!" **Inner Moka growled. **"The way you and Hawke act around each other is sickening."**

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Outer Moka denied, her cheeks heating up. "We're just friends."

"**Oh yes, the way you to go into your own little world when alone proves that." **Inner Moka replied sarcastically.

"What do you mean?" Outer Moka asked.

"**You're hopeless!" **Inner Moka cried in exasperation before the light of the gem faded.

'_What's with her?' _Outer Moka wondered. Before she had any time to think about it, the sound of Christian's approaching footsteps brought her attention back to the boy.

"It was one of the other students." Christian reported. "He heard us shouting and came to see if we were okay."

"That was nice of him." Moka commented, pushing the conversation with her inner self to the back of her mind.

"Yeah." Christian agreed, looking at the clock on his wall. It was quite late. "You should head back Moka. I have the feeling tomorrow will be a long day."

Looking at him curiously, Moka got up and made her way to the door. "Christian…please don't do anything stupid." She pleaded once the vampire girl was standing on the other side of the door.

"C'mon Moka, when have I ever done anything stupid?" Christian with the hint of a smirk.

"I'm serious." Moka said sternly. "I don't want to see you hurt."

"I know." Christian replied, now giving the girl his warmest smile. "Trust me, I don't have the intention of dying anytime soon."

Moka nodded, however she still wasn't satisfied. "Promise me you will stay safe." She asked. "Promise me that after all of this is over, you, me, Zack and the others will get to enjoy our summer together."

Christian bowed slightly. "I promise." He said softly. "Goodnight Moka."

"Goodnight Christian." Moka replied, feeling slightly better.

With that, the two friends went their separate ways, Christian back in to his room and Moka back to the girl's dorm. Both blissfully unaware of two people watching them from the bushes below.

"There you have it, Kuyo." Zack stated. "If we wish to weaken Hawke…" He began.

"Then we attack his heart." Kuyo finished, smiling evilly.

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The next day, Christian had his regular morning. Moka turned up earlier than the others, sucked his blood then swooned over the fact his blood was so 'yummy'. Kurumu then 'attacked' Christian from behind and pulled his face into a tight embrace, thanking him once again for saving her the previous day. Finally Yukari turned up tried to pull Christian away from the Succubus only to start the normal fight between the three girls, leaving the Omnitrix wielder gasping for air on the floor. It was at that moment Christian realised something was missing. It was normally at this point that Zack would help him up from the floor. Unfortunately, the boy was nowhere to be seen. Christian suddenly deflated, saddened that his friend wasn't around. Sighing, Christian began walking towards the school, knowing the girls would catch up once they had finished their bickering. Since the girls were so engaged, they failed to notice the addition to Christian's wardrobe. A pair of black gloves with a green hourglass symbol on the back.

As he walked, he couldn't help feeling that someone was watching him. However, when he turned, there was no one there. Cautiously, Christian continued walking towards the school, his hand constantly ready to use the Omnitrix if need be.

Fortunately, it never came to that and Christian was able to make it to school safely. The girls had managed to catch up just before he walked through the gates. Thanks to Yokai's strange curriculum, club activities were actually considered a lesson meaning that Christian and the girls were heading to the Newspaper Club room for their morning period. Christian half hoped that Zack may turn up so that he could talk to him, then again there was the fear that Zack would start fighting him in the middle of the club room. In any case, the anticipation was thick as Christian entered the club.

Christian didn't know whether to be relieved or sad to find that Zack wasn't in the room. Sitting down at the joint table in the centre of the room, the four members of the club waited anxiously for either Gin or Zack to walk through the door.

After a few minutes, the former decided to 'grace' the room with his presence. Taking a quick look across the room, he noticed someone was missing. "Orion not coming?"

"Doesn't look like it." Yukari replied sadly.

"Well what I've got to say is important and we can't wait for him to show up." Gin said as he moved to stand at the head of the table, a strangely serious face plastering his features.

"What is it, Gin?" Moka asked, knowing that the werewolf boy would never be this serious unless the matter was important.

"It's about what happened yesterday with the Security Committee." Gin started. "I need to tell you about them and it's important that you listen to what I have to say." The werewolf teen waited a few moments until he was sure that he had his club's attention. "Basically, the Security Committee are the violent branch of the student council." He started. "Their job is to keep the peace inside the academy. They enforce the rules and subdue trouble makers, which at this school often requires force. They're basically the student police." Gin summed up.

"If that's the case then why haven't we seen them before? They've had plenty of chances to fulfil their obligation to the school." Christian asked, thinking of every incident that had happened to him since the beginning of school.

"Well the thing is…" Gin began, bad memories beginning to come back. "They've gone bad. Turned into a school yakuza which threatens students and extorts money from them." He explained much to everyone's shock. "Remember how they said we needed to submit a request to hand out newspapers? They basically meant 'pay us a bribe'."

"What!?" The girls cried.

"And the school lets this go on?" Christian asked, his blood beginning to boil.

"When it comes to 'school safety' the enforcers have jurisdiction over the teachers. It's what makes them so powerful." Gin explained. Sighing, the teen continued, "It's my fault, I should have paid them in the first place. We will just have to remember next time."

"What aren't you telling us?"

Everyone looked towards Christian, who had just spoken, and gave him a strange look. "The blond, Kuyo I believe, told us that the Newspaper Club should know about them and then looked directly at you and smirked." Christian explained. "So tell me, what aren't you telling us?"

Gin looked at Christian in shock before bowing his head and looking at the floor. "There was…an incident last year with the previous members of the Newspaper Club." Gin started, his face growing grim. "Last year… we tried to expose the Security Committee's exploits in print. We couldn't stand what they were doing to the other students and we wanted to show that you didn't have to be afraid of them. It was then that everything went to hell. The enforcers came and destroyed the papers we were handing out. They then proceeded to…to…to kill the other club members." A tear actually fell from the werewolf's eye, shocking the other members with both what he had said and his current action. "They left me alive as a constant reminder not to cross the Committee."

"Gin…" Moka said sadly.

"That's so terrible." Kurumu gasped, wiping away a tear.

"I'm so sorry for you Gin." Yukari wept.

Christian remained silent, surprisingly calm considering how he normally acted in these situations. Suddenly, the boy stood up and began to walk out.

"Hawke!" Gin called after him. "Where are you going!?"

"Out!" Christian replied sharply as he continued towards the door.

"Christian don't do what I think you're going to do." Gin warned, using his speed to appear in front of Christian, his arms spread out protectively in the door frame to prevent Christian from leaving. "You're strong, but Kuyo is stronger."

"Yeah well, he can prove that when I see him." Christian countered as he pushed past Gin into the corridor.

"You may get that chance sooner than you think." A menacing voice sounded that radiated with power.

Christian and Zack turned to see Kuyo with group of about eight enforcers and, much to his surprise and shock, Zack, who was now clad in a black enforcers uniform that had a hood attached. Christian could tell that this wasn't going to end well. In the classroom, the girls looked on as Kuyo approached the object of their affections. Moka was now extremely worried. If Zack was with them, could he have told them Christian's secret?

"Mr. Hawke." Kuyo spat. "We would like you to come with us."

"For what, may I ask?" Christian asked, side glancing at Zack, who was scowling at him.

Kuyo smirked, he had obviously been looking forward to this. "Christian Hawke, we are taking you in for assaulting a fellow student, a teacher, endangering the lives of other and finally…" The blonde's eyes shone with victory. "And last but not least, Christin Hawke, you stand accused of being…human."

In that single instant, time seemed to slow down. The students who had been watching in the corridor were now gobsmacked, their eyes wide with a mixture of shock and fear. In the club room; Kurumu, Yukari and Gin had similar reactions to the other students. Each one of them could not believe what they were hearing. Christian? A human? It was impossible! They had all seen him transform for goodness sake!

Moka on the other hand had turned pale. Her heart was beating rapidly and unevenly. Her eyes shifted from Christian to Kuyo, worry building rapidly.

Christian on the other hand did his best to remain stoic. If he let up the act for even a minute, Kuyo would have him. Zack had clearly revealed his secret, but as long as they had no proof that he was what Zack claimed, Christian should be fine. Christian brought himself up Kuyo's level, looking him right between his beady little eyes. "If you believe that, prove it." Christian challenged.

"Oh, I will." Kuyo replied. "You just need to come with us for interrogation."

"Oh, okay." Christian said moving his arms behind his back where they couldn't be seen and leaned forward. "But quick question." There was an audible beep that set everyone on edge. "What makes you think I'm going to come quietly?" He asked with a smile as he was suddenly engulfed in a blinding emerald light, forcing everyone in the corridor and classrooms to cover their eyes. Once it light had faded and everyone could see again, the enforcers were angered to see that Christian had been replaced blue and black, velociraptor like creature wearing a green jumpsuit.

"XLR8!" The alien cried before his visor came down and he dashed of down the corridor at top speeds.

"Orion!" Kuyo cried, earning a nod from Zack as he pulled up his hood and a blue aura surrounded his body transforming his into XLR8 too. The only differences being that Positive XLR8 had blueish white skin and a dark blue chest area. His eyes were blue and the Ultramatrix symbol was on his chest. Over his left eye was a scar.

In less than a second, Positive XLR8 was already gone, following the path he had seen his former friend go. This left Kuyo, his enforcers, the members of the Newspaper Club and the other shocked students in the corridor.

"Take the Newspaper Club girls and bring them in for questioning." Kuyo ordered, turning and walking away as his subordinates moved in to arrest Moka, Kurumu and Yukari. "We just need to wait for Zack to bring back the last piece of the puzzle."

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XLR8 kept running until he had made it all the way to the bus stop. He wasn't planning to leave he just wanted to put some distance between him and the enforcers. The alien felt guilty for leaving Moka and the others behind but he guessed the enforcers were after him so getting away from them would be the best course of action.

Before he had any more time to think, XLR8 felt something crash in to him, sending the alien sprawling backwards. However, before he hit the ground, the same object hit him again in the back and sent him flying forwards. For the next few moments, XLR8 was pummelled from all sides by an opponent that XLR8 had been expecting. Finally, XLR8 was allowed to fall to the ground, his attacker appearing a few meters away.

"So that's how that feels…" XLR8 moaned as he got back to his feet. "I was expecting you to show up Zack."

Positive XLR8 scowled as he reverted back into his human form. "You're coming with me, Bro." Zack growled the last word sarcastically.

Sighing, XLR8 tapped the symbol on his chest and reverted back into his original form. "Zack, let's talk." Christian tried.

"There's nothing to talk about." Zack stated. "I'm bringing you in and that's all there is to it."

"C'mon Zack." Christian tried. "I'm your friend."

"You are not my friend!" Zack shouted. "I trusted you and you treated me like garbage!"

"I was only trying to keep you safe!" Christian shouted. "I've lost important people in my life before, I didn't want to lose one of my friends!"

"Is that why Moka and that other guy was with you then?!" Zack countered.

"Rook has fought the guy we were after before!" Christian replied. "And Moka had been kidnapped by him!"

"You still let them help though!"

"Not by choice!"

"Enough!" Zack cried. "We're settling this now!"

"Zack, I don't want to fight you!" Christian replied in a desperate attempt to prevent conflict. "Let me help you, please."

"Too bad!" Zack exclaimed, a blue aura spreading over him. "I'm! Taking! You! Down!" Suddenly, Zack began to become taller and more feline. His muscles grew in places Zack didn't even knew he had. White fur grew and spread all over his body. His clothing changed into black tank top with a blue stripe running down the middle. A black claw growing from in between both his knuckles, black fingerless gloves appeared on his hands with white flame designs. His eyes became fully blue with a scar over his left eye. The Ultramatrix symbol was on a belt around his waist.

"RATH!" The new alien cried angrily before looking at Christian with murder in his eyes.

"You're kidding me." Christian deadpanned. "You're Rath actually has clothes."

"LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN CHRISTIAN HAWKE! BACKSTABBIN FRIEND WITH A CRUSH HE CAN'T ADMIT ON MOKA AKASHIYA!" Christian blushed. "RATH IS GONNA DRAG YOU BY YOUR TEETH BACK TO ENFORCER HEADQUARTERS!" With that, Positive Rath began charging towards the flabbergasted Christian.

"Is this how I act when I turn into Rath?" Christian couldn't help but ask himself as he side stepped the charging alien tiger, allowing the alien to rush past him.

"HEY! KEEP STILL!" Positive Rath shouted as he rounded and tried to attack again.

"Zack, don't make me fight you." Christian said as he used his arms to flip over Positive Rath. "I don't want to hurt you."

"YOU!? HURT RATH!? RATH WILL SHOW YOU WHO WILL HURT WHO!" The alien tiger cried, throwing another punch at the human.

"Right then." Christian sighed regretfully, dodging underneath the punch. "I guess I'm doing this." Activating the Omnitrix, Christian selected the first icon and slammed down on the core. After a bright flash, Christian had turned into an orange furred version of the alien in front of him, minus the clothes.

For a second, Positive Rath actually looked worried. "Rath." The orange humanoid tiger hissed before using an upper cut to punch Positive Rath in the face. Once the white tiger had recovered he came face to face with his look alike. "LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN ZACKERY ORION! CURRENT ENEMY WHO I STILL CONSIDER A FRIEND! RATH IS THE STRONGEST RATH AROUND! IF YOU FIGHT ME NOW I WILL TAKE YOU DOWN!"

"BRING IT ON PANSY!" Positive Rath challenged, leaping forward and tackling his counterpart to the ground. "RATH'S TAKING YOU DOWN!" Positive Rath cried as he began punching his counterpart in the face.

"I told you." Rath growled, catching one of the punches. "RATH IS RATH AND I WILL TAKE YOU DOWN!" He roared before lunging forward and grabbing Positive Rath by his clothes and rolling forward. For the next few moments the two Appoplexians rolled across the ground punching each other, arguing about who was Rath and who wasn't.

"I'M THE REAL RATH!" Rath cried, punching Positive Rath in the stomach.

"NO! I'M RATH!" Positive Rath countered, attempting to throttle the orange humanoid.

"I'M RATH!"

"NO! I AM!"

"I AM!"

"I AM!"

"I AM!"

"I AM!"

"I AM!"

"I AM!"

"NO!" Rath finally shouted, rolling up so that his feet were pressed into Positive Rath's chest. "I AM!" Using all his strength, Rath pushed out with both his feet and sent Positive Rath flying in to the air. Acting quickly, Rath rolled back on to his feet and jumped after his foe. Grabbing Positive Rath's heel, Rath spun in the air, throwing his counterpart down at high speeds towards the ground. "FLYING VAXASAURIAN TOSS!" The Appoplexian screamed when he had let go of Positive Rath's leg. The white humanoid hit the ground with enough force to create a Rath shaped hole in the ground that descended several metres.

Landing safely on the ground, Rath wondered over to the hole and shouted down, "LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN ZACKERY ORION! OMNITRIX COPY CAT AND CURRENT PAIN IN MY BUTT! YOU MAY BE A GOOD FIGHTER! BUT RATH, RATH IS BETTER AS RATH IS THE ORIGINAL!"

From inside the hole, Positive Rath's voice shouted. "FINE! THEN RATH WILL TURN INTO SOMETHING ORIGINAL!"

"Wha?" Rath said as a blue glow emanated from within the hole. Suddenly, the ground began to shake uncontrollably as it began to crack underneath Rath's feet. "What's happening?" Suddenly Rath became angry again. "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHIN SHAKING, CRACKING GROUND THAT IS IN DANGER OF DRAGGING RATH INTO THE GROUND! RATH IS BETTER THAN YOU!" Rath then began stomping on the cracking earth in a strange attempt to beat it up. "OH YEAH! DO YOU LIKE THAT! HAVE SOME OF RATH!"

Suddenly a large metal arm burst from the ground and ensnared the humanoid tiger by grabbing him around the waist and hoisting up into the air. Then, the rest of the metal titan that Zack called Grimlock pulled himself out from ground, growling angrily as he stared through his blue visor in to Rath's eyes.

"Grimlock is superior to puny Rath." Positive Grimlock growled. "Give up and come quietly with Grimlock."

"Give up?" Rath repeated in disbelief. "LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN ZACKERY ORION! CURRENTLY METAL ROBOT CALLED GRIMLOCK! RATH DOESN'T GIVE UP, NO MATTER HOW STRONG HIS OPPONENT IS!" Rath then began struggling as he attempted break Positive Grimlock's hold on him. "BUT, IF YOU COULD LOOSEN YOUR GRIP A LITTLE, RATH WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT!"

"Stop resisting." Positive Grimlock stated, beginning to walk in the direction of the school. "Grimlock will now take you to the female haired blond."

"RATH DOESN'T GO ANYWHERE WITH ANYBODY!" Rath replied before he attempted biting the robot's metal hand to no affect. Once the Appoplexian finally decided that he was unable to escape the metal titan, he tapped the Omnitrix symbol with an annoyed expression. Positive Grimlock was forced to cover his face with his free hand due to the bright light that followed. Once it had faded, Positive Grimlock was shocked to see that the hand that had been holding his foe was now empty. Thinking that Christian had turned into Big Chill to escape the hold, the metal titan prepared himself for a strike that could come from any angle. Due to this, Positive Grimlock was blissfully unaware of the tiny, grey, frog like alien wearing a green jumpsuit currently clinging to his back.

Slowly, as to not alert Positive Grimlock, Grey Matter crawled up the titans back to the Ultramatrix symbol on his shoulder. If he deactivated the Ultramatrix and change Zack back in to his human form, he could transform in to someone like Diamondhead or Swampfire and incapacitate him. Once he had finally reached Positive Grimlock's shoulder, Grey Matter slammed his fist on the symbol and waited. However, to his shock, nothing happened. Positive Grimlock didn't revert, there was no change at all. The only thing the frog like alien had accomplished was alerting his foe to his position.

"Found you." Positive Grimlock said as he reached for the small alien.

"Eeek!" Grey Matter screamed as he jumped off the titan and began hopping towards a group of rocks, his opponent closely following behind him. Diving into a gap between them, Grey Matter took shelter in order to come up with a plan to beat Positive Grimlock. On the other side of the rock, Positive Grimlock was reaching out for one of the large stones that was keeping his for safe. Suddenly, in between the cracks, a green light shone before the stone that the metal titan had been reaching for shot forward and hit Positive Grimlock in the chest, sending him flying back in to the side of the cliff that overlooked the bus stop.

Moving the stone off of him, Positive Grimlock looked to see Humungousaur charging at him with his fist pulled back. Acting quickly, the metal titan rolled to the side just before Humungousaur threw his fist forward leading it to become stuck in the side of the cliff. Acting quickly, Positive Grimlock ran forward and punched the dino like alien in the torso just as he had freed his hand from the mountain. Due to his tough hide, Humungousaur wasn't sent flying back however he was winded. Positive Grimlock continued his assault, delivering punches to all of the dino alien's body. Humungousaur attempted to defend himself but the attacks were coming too often and he himself still hadn't fully recovered from the first punch. Just as Positive Grimlock was about to end it, Humungousaur reached out and caught the incoming metal fist. Humungousaur then proceeded to grow until he was five feet above Grimlock, the metal alien's fist securely stuck in his large scaly hand.

"My turn." Humungousaur growled before he used his increased strength to Positive Grimlock in to the air and began tossing the metal alien around, throwing him into the ground and creating Grimlock shaped craters in the ground. Finally, Humungousaur placed a dizzy Positive Grimlock on the ground where he struggled to keep his footing. Drawing back his giant fist, Humungousaur delivered a wicked haymaker to Positive Grimlock's face send the metal titan flying back, rolling along the dirt as he did so. When his foe had finally come to a stop, Humungousaur returned to his normal size and walked towards the downed alien cautiously. He knew very little about this alien and didn't know if it had any other surprises for him.

Once Humungousaur was within a few feet, Positive Grimlock suddenly reacted, jumping up and punching Humungousaur in the face. Stumbling back, Humungousaur looked to see Positive Grimlock seething with anger. "You should not have hurt Grimlock." The metal titan hissed. "Grimlock is supreme!"

Suddenly, Positive Grimlock's form began to shift and change, his body parts rearranging. Throwing his arms down, metal shifting to make them thicker and whilst his shoulder moved out in order to make them longer. His legs merged together and elongated becoming a long tail with a drill like tip. His body spread out as several sections spread out and split becoming a large jaw with several, sharp metal teeth. The Ultramatrix symbol was now on the side of the transformed beings leg. Humungousaur looked on flabbergasted as in front of him was a large, metal Tyrannosaurus with glowing blue eyes. "What the…" Humungousaur managed to say before the metal dinosaur turned and swiped it's tail hitting the beige alien in the chest with enough force to send him into the cliff face.

Painfully opening one eye, Humungousaur saw Positive Grimlock charging at him. Before he could do anything, Positive Grimlock's large head collided with his body, digging him deeper into the cliff face. Pulling his head away, Positive Grimlock allowed Humungousaur to peel out of the hole he had made and fall to the ground. The metal dino then proceeded to stamp on his rivals back several times before finally stopping and letting out a victorious roar that reverberated throughout the entire area. Humungousaur, now severely beaten and only on the edge of consciousness heard a series of beeps before his form was engulfed in emerald light and he transformed back in to Christian. Desperately, Christian tried to keep his eyes from closing however they felt so heavy. Just before he succumbed to the darkness, he saw Positive Grimlock, now back in robot form, walking towards him. "Grimlock warned puny liar. Now is time to return to Kuyo."

After hearing those words, Christian's eyes closed and fell into unconsciousness, his mind and body refusing to work any longer as it was in excruciating pain.

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Christian awoke with a start when he felt something wet and cold splash against his body, instantly bringing him out of unconsciousness. He noticed that his arms were at odd angles to each other, chained to a chilling wall which prevented him from being able to use the Omnitrix. His eyes adjusting to the darkness, Christian realised that he was currently in a jail cell. On the ground was a trail of water leading towards the bars that trapped him. On the other side of those bars, staring angrily at him with a bucket in his hands, was Zack with his hood pulled up.

"I guess you caught me." Christian commented tiredly. "Now what?"

For a few moments, Zack remained silent. Finally he moved to the side and pulled up a stool which was in the corridor and sat in front of the bars. "Now, we wait for the other interrogations to finish."

"Other interrogations?" Christian asked, slightly confused.

"Just some people who either know you or have fought you in the time you have been at the academy." Zack replied, his face now emotionless. "Including most of the members of the Newspaper Club."

Hearing this, Christian began struggling against his bonds. "YOU LEAVE THEM ALONE!" He shouted angrily. "THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!"

"Kuyo thinks otherwise." Zack said, however upon seeing that Christian still struggled he stated, "He assured me that they wouldn't be harmed."

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" Christian spat, trying to think of a way to reach the Omnitrix.

"Despite their stupidity in aligning themselves with you, I consider them innocent to your betrayal." Zack replied. "I made Kuyo promise me that he wouldn't harm any of your friends.

"They're your friends too." Christian shot back.

"Not at the minute." Zack stated, glaring at the boy in the jail cell.

For a few minutes, there was an uncomfortable silence between the two teens. Finally, Christian decided to break it. "So…how were you able to do what you did?" He asked, looking at the blue device on the back of Zack's hand. "How were you able to copy the Omnitrix?"

"You're willing to use its name now?" Zack replied, an eyebrow raised.

"May as well." Christian stated. "You already know it."

Zack was once again silent for a few seconds, contemplating whether he should answer Christian's question. Finally, he pulled down his hood and began to elaborate. "I'm not the strongest monster." Zack started, going completely off topic. "I've had to train all my life in martial arts and spiritual techniques just to survive. My Aura of fury is an example of what I've had to learn. Despite the fact it increases my strength and reflexes, it is not enough to take down a strong opponent. If we hadn't hurt Gin before you turned back into your human form, I surely would have died fighting him."

"Okaaayyy…" Christian replied, slightly confused. "And this is going…?"

"My species always has to do this or else we would definitely die if we come in to contact with a stronger monster." Zack continued his explanation, ignoring Christian's comment. "After my parents died," He started.

"What!?" Christian interrupted. Zack had lost his parents like him? They were more alike than he originally thought.

"After my parents died," Zack repeated. "I went to live with my uncle. He took me on a journey around the world where I was taught to master all kinds of martial arts. My uncle even got me into contact with monks from temples where they helped me to learn defensive spiritual techniques to defend myself." Zack explained. "However, these techniques aren't always enough. Due to this, we had to develop a technique to hide from predators. My species is able to copy the appearance of others thanks to this ability."

"But…that would make you…" Christian realised. He had been reading up on different monster species, especially the one that he was pretending to be. "a doppelganger…"

"Very good." Zack commented with mock praise, making Christian growl. "I see you've done your research. Yes, I am a Doppelganger. However, my abilities are weaker than others of my kind. Where they can copy people's appearances, I can only copy articles of clothing, including technology." He explained, holding up the Ultramatrix on the back of his hand. "However, it appears that something went wrong and I created an imperfect copy.

"That's…incredible…" Christian stuttered. _'Azmuth would have a field day with him.' _He thought as he continued to listen.

"However, for some reason I still have other Doppelganger abilities." Zack continued. "You see, in order to tell each other apart, my species has developed a technique to recognise other Doppelgangers. If we are to touch another Doppelganger we instantly know if he is another Doppelganger. That is how I know you are a human. I've known ever since I first touched you when we met."

"That doesn't prove I'm human." Christian replied, sweating slightly. He didn't know Doppelganger's could do this, it hadn't been in any of the books he had read on Doppelgangers. This was dangerous, if what Zack said was true then he had evidence against him. Christian needed to play his cards very carefully.

"Maybe not." Zack admitted. "But, there is other evidence to prove it. Do you know how many people say that you smell like a human? Hell, Moka gives us evidence every time she drinks your blood. Vampires love human blood, they're addicted to it."

"Just because Moka drinks my blood it doesn't mean I'm human." Christian defended. "And I smell like a human because I've lived among them all my life."

Zack gave Christian an unbelieving look. "Keep telling yourself that." He said as he got up from his stool. "I'm sure you'll admit your humanity soon enough." With that, the raven haired boy walked away.

However, no sooner had he taken a few steps did Zack hear, "Zack! I'm sorry for what I said to you. I just didn't want to lose anyone else." The black clad teen remained silent and still for a few more moments before leaving the jail block and Christian to his thoughts.

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For what felt like a few hours, Christian was left in darkness, desperately trying to free himself from the restraints which held him. He knew that if he was able to reach the Omnitrix, he could transform and escape. Unfortunately, he had no such luck.

Finally, Christian heard footsteps coming from down the corridor. After a few moments, two enforcers Christian didn't recognise entered his cell, one carrying a bag. After undoing his shackles and placing the bag over his head so that he couldn't see, Christian was dragged from his cell and out of the jail, the enforcers making sure that his journey was as painful as possible.

When Christian felt the people carrying him come to a stop, he was thrown in to a chair and had his hands tied together, once again keeping him from activating the Omnitrix. When the bag was removed from his head, Christian found himself in a dimly lit shrine, Kuyo standing before him whilst the two enforcers that had brought him held him in place.

"Is this how you treat all your guests?" Christian asked, a light smile adorning his tired features. "May I ask where my friends are?"

"They're currently in enforcer custody. You may neither see nor speak to them until the interrogation is over." Kuyo stated, looking at Christian with a mutual expression.

"I see." Christian replied, nodding his head. "Well if you will just untie my hands this whole mess can be sorted out and we can go on with our lives." He stated, holding out his bound arms.

"I'm afraid not Mr. Hawke." Kuyo stated, a small smirk appearing on his face. "You see, we already know of your abilities, however the forms you turn into are like none other. With the exception of your werewolf form, no one has been able to identify any of the 'monsters' you have turned into."

"I suppose that's because they are native to America." Christian suggested, scowling at Kuyo.

"Possible." The blond teen admitted. "But unlikely." His smile widened as he snapped his fingers, signalling another enforcer to bring in a large cardboard box from outside the room. "You see, these were acquired from your club rooms store room." He explained, opening up the box and taking out an old newspaper. "I believe you're familiar with the being on the first page?" He asked, tossing the paper to Christian's feet.

A bead of sweat ran down Christian's head when he saw the picture on the front page. It showed Diamondhead in a black and white, sleeveless outfit. The right half of the uniform was black and the left was white. The Omnitrix symbol was on the left side of his chest. The picture depicted him holding up two criminals after catching them robbing a bank.

"So what." Christian replied, trying to think of a way out of the situation. "That could be another person. I only recently gained the ability to turn into Diamondhead, this picture was taken six years ago."

"Maybe… However I notice that this being shares the same symbol that is on all of your transformations." Kuyo pointed out. "And as there is no official record of any of the creatures you can transform into, I can only assume that the device on your wrist is some kind of human weapon that allows you to change your appearance and abilities." Christian gritted his teeth at how close Kuyo was. There was no chance that Kuyo would guess the forms Christian could turn into were aliens and that the Omnitrix was made by a little grey frog person.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Christian shouted. "Do you have any idea how stupid you sound right now!? I'm not a human!"

"You say that, yet all the evidence we have collected says otherwise." Kuyo pointed out, holding up his left hand only for a flame to appear. The flames began to grow until Christian could clearly see an image appear within it.

The image depicted a single person sitting in a chair within a darkly lit room. Christian was able to recognise the person as Saizou Komiya. The sleaze bag was sitting in the chair like he owned it. A small black strip covered his eyes as if it could conceal his identity.

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"_Yep, there's no doubt about it, that guy smelt like a human alright." Saizou reported. "That guy stank, it was sickening. Not to mention the form he used, Kickin Hawk, was unlike any monster I've seen before. I'm looking forward to finally beating the crap out of that punk."_

_The scene suddenly changed in a burst of static to show a man in his late thirties with spikey red hair wearing a track suit. Christian recognised him as coach Kotsubo. "Christian? Now that I think about it, his sport scores are below the average monster and his level of physical fitness is almost like that of a humans."_

_The scene changed again to a male student Christian didn't recognise. "Well he definitely has a human like scent and everyone knows about him. It's a different case for what he can turn into."_

_Once again the scene changed to an unfamiliar female student with blonde hair. "Moka is always kissing him on the neck… I just thought they were together though, maybe she was drinking his blood…" _

_Once again the image changed. "That guy reeks" _

_And again, "And he smells awful!" _

_The image changed and Christian saw someone he did recognise. It was Tamao, the mermaid swim captain. Ridiculously, she was still wearing her swim suit. "I didn't recognise the forms he used when protecting his friends, however before he transformed, I swear Christian smelt exactly like a human." _

_Another image change, "I saw him jump out of the third story window once, he slapped the limiter on his wrist and there was a blinding green light. When it faded, he was a monster that I had never seen before." _

_Once again, there was one more image change to show another student Christian did recognise. It was Yukari's class rep, his right arm was in a sling and he looked utterly afraid. "I've never seen something as powerful as what he turned into!" He shouted, looking around as if someone was going to attack him. "After turning the symbol on his chest, his form seemed to evolve. He became so powerful. He…he…he would have killed me! I could have died! PLEASE! TELL ME HE'S NOT HERE!"_

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The image faded but the flame remained. Kuyo looked at Christian with hungry eyes. "As you can see, it doesn't matter who we talk to. Everything we hear points to the fact that you are human." The blonde pointed out, earning another bead of sweat to fall down Christian's brow. "Even your friends have given us a need to be suspicious."

The image in the flame flickered to life to show someone Christian was very familiar with.

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_Kurumu sat in the same space the other students had, she looked extremely angry and irritated. "So, you don't believe that Christian Hawke is a human being?" A male voice sounded from off screen. _

"_Of course I don't!" Kurumu stated, a look of determination in her eyes. "Besides, no human is able to enter the academy, right?" _

_Ignoring the last comment, the male voice continued, "Why are you so sure that Hawke is human?"_

"_Because I've seen Christian transform loads of times. That should be all the proof you need to show he's not human." Kurumu replied as if it the most obvious thing in the world. _

"_But, out of all those forms, how many did you recognise?" The voice asked. _

_That broke through Kurumu's confidence. She actually had no idea what Christian's forms were. With the exception of his werewolf form, she honestly had no idea. "Well…no…I don't." She admitted. _

"_Do you know what kind of monster he actually is?" The boy asked, his voice very much a monotone. _

"_He's a shape shifter." Kurumu answered immediately. _

"_That doesn't answer the question!" The voice replied sharply, causing the succubus girl to jump. "That is his ability, I want to know his species." The boy told the succubus girl. "Are you not friends with Hawke? He knows exactly what you yet he is unwilling to share that information with you?"_

_Kurumu's eyes widened in shock. All this time, she had, had no idea what Christian was. Could it be true what they were saying? Could Christian truly be human? As she lowered her head towards the ground, the image changed to show a very uncomfortable Yukari sitting nervously in a chair, her eyes were wide with fear._

"_I…I don't know what Christian is…" Yukari said. "I always thought he was just following the school rules. It was never a concern for me to know what he was." _

"_It never occurred to you once?" A female voice asked as the red haired girl from the previous day walked in to view, circling around Yukari like a shark. "It didn't even spark your curiosity?" _

"_N…no, not at all." Yukari replied, tears beginning to appear in her eyes. _

"_Well, that's very impressive." The enforcer praised. "I admire your tenacity. However, I'm surprised Hawke wouldn't share his identity with you. After all, he does know your identity."_

_Yukari looked at the enforcer with wide eyes. For the first time, she had no idea how to respond. She didn't want to doubt Christian but it was becoming harder to do so._

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Once again the image faded, leaving the flame to flicker in the darkly lit room. "As you can see, even your friends have doubts as to your true identity." Kuyo stated, taking relish in Christian's worried expression. "Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to interview everyone, therefore we are currently conducting our last interview now. Let's see how that is going, shall we." The blonde stated, gesturing towards the fire as the image changed again to something that caused Christian's heart to miss a beat.

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_Moka sat in a chair with a wooden desk in front of her, an item was placed in the middle of the table with a cloth placed over it. The vampire girl was clearly extremely worried about something. Suddenly, the same voice from Kurumu's interview sounded. "I've done lots of investigating on both you and Hawke. You appear to be addicted to drinking his blood and if I recall correctly, Vampires are addicted to the taste of human blood, are they not?" _

"_That's not the reason!" Moka cried, knowing what the enforcer was implying. "I drink his blood because it is tasty, not because he is human!" _

_Ignoring the Pinkette, the enforcer removed the cloth from the object to reveal a glass of water. Seeing this, Moka gasped in fear, water being a vampire's fatal weakness. The enforcer walked into the shot and moved the glass closer to Moka, making her squirm in her seat. "Vampires fear fresh water." It wasn't a question but a statement. "It drains their abilities and renders them powerless." Moka didn't reply. The only thing she could do was continue to look at the glass of water on the table. Smiling evilly, the enforcer continued, "In case you haven't figured it out, that is exactly what is in this glass. Fresh water." _

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That was when the fire dispersed, leaving the room silent. For a second, the silence continued however a frightening scream pierced the room. It was a scream of absolute pain and agony, it was also a voice Christian recognised. Moka.

"You bastards!" Christian shouted, struggling against his captors. "You promised that she wouldn't be harmed! That none of them would be harmed!"

Kuyo remained silent as another scream filled the room. "You may want to hurry and confess." He said finally. "I wouldn't want Miss Akashiya to end up like these three."

Christian's eyes widened in fear. "What three?" He asked.

Kuyo smirked as he snapped his fingers and caused a cube made of black, magical energy to appear out of nowhere. After a moment of its existence, the cube shattered and left behind the broken and bruised forms of the Fan Boy Fan Club Coalition.

"Them?" Christian asked in surprise.

"Yes." Kuyo confirmed. "They were very useful. They told me all about your little battle with them. You apparently were quite weak and couldn't fight back until you used your device to transform. So…why is it you who is supposed to have such great strength, can't even fight off three pathetic weaklings until he has transformed?" Christian remained silent, staring defiantly at Kuyo. Seeing that he wasn't going to get an answer, Kuyo decided to try and end the interrogation quickly. "You may not be able to save yourself but you can still save her. I hear that if you remove your limiter, the forms you have will overload and kill you."

Know what he was implying, Christian's breathing rate increased in fear as he realised what Kuyo wanted him to do. "No…"

"Yes." Kuyo replied, smiling crazily. "If you wish to save the girl, then remove the limiter and prove to everyone your humanity." He said madly.

A thousand thoughts ran through Christian's mind all at once. If he were to remove the Omnitrix, not only would he reveal himself to be human but he would also be killed. If he didn't remove it…Moka could die. Another scream pierced the room and Christian's heart, hearing his friends scream was ripping him apart.

"You might want to hurry." Kuyo pointed out, bringing Christian out of his thoughts. "Moka seems to be all hot and bothered right now. Perhaps we should take her outside to the pool at the back of the shrine and let her cool off. The water is lovely this time of year."

Anger surged within Christian. Using his training from the Plumber Academy, Christian threw his bound hands round and smashed his hands into once of his captors face, breaking his nose. Before the second could react, Christian spun on his feet and knocked the other guy of his feet where Christian proceeded to kick him in the head, knocking the enforcer out.

Dashing forward, Christian used his bound hands to grab a hold of Kuyo's shirt and pulled him in. The elder student appeared to be unalarmed and made no attempt to get Christian to release him. "How's this for unprotected?" He growled.

"There is no point in attempting to hurt me." Kuyo stated, ignoring Christian's question. "If any harm is to come to me, your little Moka will suffer."

Christian growled, furious with himself for allowing Moka and his friends to come into harm's way. Another scream was heard and Christian's resolve shattered.

"FINE!" He shouted, releasing Kuyo and falling to his knees. "Fine. Just let her go." Kuyo nodded, agreeing to the terms. Kuyo then bent down and released Christian's arms. He was confident the boy wouldn't do anything to endanger his friends.

Saying a silent apology to his friends and the Plumbers who had helped him, Christian used his now free hands to input a few commands on the Omnitrix touch pad.

"VOICE COMMAND MODE ENGAGED." A synthesized version of Christian's voice replied, surprising Kuyo.

"Decouple Omnitrix. Command code 0-0-0, release coupling, 0." Christian said in defeat.

There was a small beep before the Omnitrix AI replied, "COMMAND CODE ACCEPTED. OMNITRIX DECOUPLED." Instantly, the binding on the device came undone and time began to slow down as the Omnitrix fell to the floor. When it finally hit the floor, the coupling restraints slid back into the main body.

Kuyo waited for a few moments. However, upon seeing that nothing was going to happen, the blond bent down and picked up the Omnitrix, holding it in the palm of his hand. "I... …man." Christian mumbled, sadly.

"What was that?" Kuyo asked mockingly.

"I'm human!" Christian shouted. "I'm human alright! Now please, let my friends go!"

As soon as he had heard this, a mad grin appeared on Kuyo's face. "Hahahahahaha AAAHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Kuyo laughed before once again snapping his fingers. "Did you hear that everyone?" He asked as three boxes like the one that had encased the fan boys appeared behind Christian. No sooner had they appeared did they shatter to reveal Yukari, Kurumu and Moka. Each girl was unharmed and had a shocked look on their face.

Christian lowered his head so that his hair covered his eyes. The realization that Kuyo had tricked him painfully weighed on his shoulders. Now his friends knew. They knew that he was human. Turning, Christian was able to see the look of fright, worry and sadness on Moka's face as she stared at her knees, tears forming in her eyes. Kurumu and Yukari had a different expression though. Both bore a look of utter shock and fear. However, there was a clear look of betrayal present on the girl's faces.

No sooner had the girls appeared, did several more boxes appear, each one shattering to reveal the members of the security committee. Zack appeared at the back of the group, his eyes slightly wide with surprise by Christian's self-sacrifice. With a prideful smirk, Kuyo spoke to the whole room. "Well, there you have it, straight from the horse's mouth. Christian Hawke has just admitted his humanity to all of us. He is a human. The mortal enemy of all monsters!"

From behind him, Christian could hear the comments of Kurumu and Yukari.

"No way…" Kurumu gasped.

"I…it can't be true…" Yukari denied, her world falling apart.

Kuyo and the security committee chuckled as they watched Christian's head fall in despair. Kuyo knew he would take great pleasure in executing this human. Christian had shown so much impudence towards him that he was looking forward ending his miserable life.

"As you can see, this shrine has barriers and illusion spells that can allow its occupants to hide in plain sight." Kuyo explained. "We can even make it seem like events are happening that aren't. Making it seem like your little girlfriend was in pain was trivial."

"Why?" Moka whimpered, her head still hung down as tears began to fall on to her clenched hands. "Why would you do that, Christian? Why did you tell them the truth?" Kurumu and Yukari's heads snapped around to look at the vampire girl. Even Zack in the back looked surprised. He hadn't expected Moka to know Christian's secret. "We were all getting along just fine." Moka continued. "You shouldn't have worried about me. You should ha-"

SLAP!

Christian turned with wide eyes to see that Kurumu had stood up and slapped Moka fiercely across the face. Moka neither made any noise nor flinched from the attack. All she did was sit in her seat, too ashamed to even look her friend in the eye. "You knew all along?" Kurumu asked, her tone a dangerous hiss which caused Christian to stand up. "You lied to the club, your friends?"

"Kurumu, wait." Christian said as he tried to approach the upset bluenette. "It's not Moka's fault."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Kurumu cried out, tears in her eyes.

Christian stopped automatically, backing away slightly. Seeing this, Kuyo's grin grew. "Family feud eh? Well you have been lying to them all along after all." He mocked. Kuyo then turned to some of his subordinates and began giving orders. "Miss Kurono and Miss Sendo are free to go. Place Akashiya in the holding cells."

Christian turned, anger once again flaring within him. "Why!? Let Moka go! She has nothing to do with this!"

"On the contrary. She knew about your secret beforehand and did nothing to perform her civic duty towards the school." Kuyo stated calmly.

"Why you…" Christian said, reaching for his left wrist only to remember Kuyo was holding the Omnitrix. The blonde in question merely stepped forward and punched Christian in the gut, causing Christian to gag as the wind was knocked out of him. The Plumber collapsed to the ground, his gloved hands holding his stomach.

"Christian!" Moka cried, making an attempt to run to her friend's side. However, she had barely taken a few steps before an enforcer held her back, lifting her over his shoulder. "Let me go!" Moka shouted, pounding on the enforcers back in desperation.

"That was for touching me with your filthy human hands." Kuyo stated, bending down to whisper in Christian's ear.

No sooner had he said that, guards proceeded to lead Kurumu and Yukari out of the shrine. Both girls leaving in silence. Moka on the other hand was carried away, calling out to Christian as she did so. "Christian! Please, run! Get out of here! Christian!" However, soon her cries faded as she was dragged further into the shrine.

"MOKA!" Christian called out, trying to get to his feet only to be kicked back down by the enforcer whose nose he had broken.

Once the room was once again silent, Kuyo once again addressed the ensemble of enforcers. "Now then…members of the Security Committee. In the name of order and for the sake of justice…I call judgement upon Christian Hawke."

The boy wearing glasses responded. "Guilty as charged."

The girl carrying a bow staff smiled innocently. "Guilty as charged." She said

Within a few seconds, the whole room with the exception of Zack had responded, "Guilty as charged."

Finally, Zack said, "He's guilty." With that Zack walked away, not looking back.

Christian watched his former friend leave before Kuyo approached him and grabbed him by the hair so that Christian was forced to look him in the eyes. "Christian Hawke, this court has found you guilty of being a human." He told him only to be met with Christian's hate filled eyes. "The sentence for your crime, is death." Christian continued to look at Kuyo with defiance, not giving in. "But first," Kuyo suddenly said. "Let's learn about your little weapon."

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Once Kurumu and Yukari had left the shrine, the succubus had burst into tears, distraught to know that the boy she considered her destined one had been lying to her the entire time they had known each other. Yukari, surprisingly, wasn't in tears and was actually trying to keep a level head. Neither girl wanted to believe what they had just heard. Unfortunately it had and now Christian and Moka were being held and most likely going to be executed. Zack had left them and sided with the bad guys and Gin was nowhere to be found.

With nothing else to do, the two girls proceeded to make their way to a bench in the school gardens. Sitting down, the two girls cried as they thought about what they were going to do next.

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In the jail cells beneath the Security Committee shrine, Moka had been thrown into a special cells meant for the most dangerous deviants at Yokai. Moka desperately shook the bars that imprisoned her, calling out to people who weren't even there. "Let me out! Please! I need to get to Christian! Please!" However, her cries fell on to deaf ears as no one bothered to answer her. After a few more minutes of shouting, Moka gave up and retreated further into her cell, curling up against a wall and crying for her friend, her hands clenched around the Rosario on her choker.

"Christian…" She whimpered, tears falling on to her uniform jacket.

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Zack stood on top of the enforcer shrine, looking out over the landscape. Having talked with Christian and seeing his self-sacrifice for Moka, Zack was now filled with doubts. His anger towards Christian hadn't subsided, that was definitely true. Zack wanted Christian to suffer for lying to him. However something didn't feel right about the way Kuyo had treated Christian. Zack couldn't help but feel…guilty.

Why? Why was he doubting himself now? He wanted Christian to suffer for lying to him so why did he have doubts now?

"_Zack! I'm sorry for what I said to you. I just didn't want to lose anyone else."_

"_I'm human alright! Now please, let my friends go!"_

Zack shook his head, trying to purge his mind of the unnecessary thoughts. Deciding that he had, had enough fresh air, Zack headed back inside. One thing on his mind.

'_I need a root beer.'_

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"Gah!" Christian cried out as he was kicked in the gut for the third time. He was currently in the cell he had originally woken up in. After Kuyo had told him his sentence, two enforcers had picked him up and dragged him back to where he had been originally. They hadn't seen the need to bind him as he was now defenceless. Kuyo had come with them, holding the Omnitrix in his hand. For the past five minutes the blonde had been demanding that Christian tell him how the device worked and why it had ceased operating once it had been removed.

Christian, of course, had remained silent and was paying the price for it. It felt like a few of his ribs were broken and he was struggling to breath. After being kicked again, Christian coughed up a little blood, staining the ground below him. He needed to get out of here and save Moka, and now he had a plan.

"You are testing my patience." Kuyo said, rubbing his eyes in exasperation. "Tell me what I want to know and I can assure you that your death will be quick and painless."

I-I'll tell you." Christian said, trying to make it seem like his spirit was broken. "I'll tell you how to use the Omnitrix."

"Good." Kuyo said snidely, gesturing for the two enforcers to step away from their prisoner. "I knew you would come around. Now tell me, why this thing won't work."

"It's…coded to my DNA. It will only work if I'm the one wearing it." Christian replied, secretly pressing the sown in button at the end of each of his gloves, activating their function. "However, I can make it work for you. You just need to promise that my friends won't be harmed."

"Fine, you won't need to worry about your friends in the Newspaper Clubs suffering at all." Kuyo replied, smiling evilly. _'Their deaths will just have to be quick and painless.'_

Nodding Christian began to speak. "Omnitrix. Voice Command engage."

In Kuyo's hand, the black and green device beeped, signifying that it heard Christian. "OMNITRIX VOICE COMMAND ENGAGE."

With a hidden smirk, Christian ordered, "Omnitrix, disengage all safety functions on Omnitrix scan. Command code 0-0-1-1-0."

"COMMAND ACCEPTED, SAFETY PROTOCOLS DISENGAGED." The Omnitrix replied.

"What are you-?" Kuyo began.

"Omnitrix, scan closest unrecognised DNA signature now!" Christian shouted."

"COMMAND ACCEPTED." The Omnitrix stated before it beeped and lit up with emerald electricity that shot out towards the closest being which just happened to be Kuyo. The sudden shock caused the boy to shout out in pain as the Omnitrix scanned his DNA.

His two goons tried to go towards their master in order to help him but barely made it two steps when Christian stopped them by placing one of his hands on their backs. Before they could react, the two enforcers were shocked with several volts of electricity automatically knocking them out. Turning off the shock gloves, Christian looked at Kuyo who was on the floor, bug eyed and slightly smoking. The Omnitrix was on the floor beside him.

Quickly picking it up, Christian placed the device of his left wrist, causing the coupling to slide out of the Omnitrix's main body and secure itself around Christian's wrist. Smiling, Christian said, "I'm back." The sound of someone getting to their feet caught Christian's attention. Turning, he saw Kuyo painfully getting up.

"You…filthy…human trash." He said, seething with anger. "How dare you-?" Kuyo began before a fist slammed into his face and making him fall back and hit the wall hard, knocking out the boy."

"That's for touching my stuff." Christian stated, rubbing his fist. "Time to find Moka and get out of here." Christian commented as he activated the Omnitrix and cycled through his transformation, taking notice of the new addition to his repertoire. Deciding that stealth was going to be required, Christian quickly selected a head icon and slammed down on the Omnitrix core. After a quick flash of emerald light, a familiar blue moth man stood tall and proud amongst the unconscious enforcers.

"Big Chill." The alien announced before turning intangible and walking out of the cell. Once outside he turned and used his icy breath to create a solid wall of ice over the cell. Big Chill knew that Kuyo wouldn't be out for long. Hopefully this would slow his down.

"Hey kid!"

Big Chill turned in surprise at the new voice. Looking around, he found the Purple haired enforcer from the other day chained to a wall with several blue crystal shards laying around her.

"What do you want?" He asked angrily.

"Your little girlfriend will be in the special detention block." Keito stated. "It's on the other side of the shrine."

Big Chill blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected that. "How can I believe you?" He asked.

"That bastard Kuyo threw me in here after losing one fight to Orion like I was garbage. I no longer have any respect for him." Keito replied. "I don't exactly like you either but you've not the one who locked me in a cell."

Big Chill stayed quiet before nodding. "Do you want any help?" He asked, feeling like he owed the girl.

"I don't need anything from filth like you." Keito stated. "Just leave."

The Omnitrix bearer continued to look at the girl for a few more seconds before turning intangible and leaving through the wall. However, after a few moments, the blue alien returned with a set of keys he had acquired from one of the guards he had knocked out in his cell. Big Chill then proceeded to unlock all of the cells and allow the Enforcers prisoners out. He came to Keito's cell last and threw the keys to her feet. "Now you can help yourself." He said before flying through the roof.

Keito watched him leave before sighing. "Lousy, good for nothing human. I hope he gets what's coming to him." She said as she saw the ice wall that entrapped Kuyo and the guards begin to melt, a light orange glow appearing on the other side.

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In the gardens, Yukari was now standing up and looking down upon the older girl who was sobbing upon the bench.

"C'mon Kurumu." She urged. "We have to do something." The young witch received no reply from her Succubus friend. "We can't just stay here and do nothing." She tried to reason and get the bluenette to respond. "Listen, I've been thinking about this since we heard what Christian said, I've been thinking. I don't think it matters if you're a human or a monster, just if you're good or bad. I'm saying this from personal experience to. I mean when I first came to this school the ones who picked on me were monsters and the first person who stuck up for me was Christian and he was a human, the very thing that I was taught to be afraid of since I was little."

"Yeah, I know…" Kurumu whimpered, her eyes closed and her head down. "And I get it…"

"Well in that case-!" Yukari started, only to be cut off by Kurumu.

"But you don't get it. I'm upset for another reason." Kurumu was now shaking as she began losing the struggle to hold back her ever growing emotions. "We were all friends, but Christian and Moka too. They didn't trust us enough to tell us the truth and what was going on."

"But Kurumu…" Yukari began.

"I mean, c'mon!" Kurumu continued, ignoring the young witch. "It's frustrating." Kurumu finally raised her head and looked at Yukari, allowing the witch to see the tears streaming down her eyes. "If they had just told us the truth, think of all the ways we could be helping them right now." Tears continued to flow as Yukari found herself unable to respond. "Idiots!" Kurumu cried out. "Christian and Moka are idiots!"

Kurumu continued to cry for a few moments before Yukari spoke up. "Then maybe we should tell them that in person."

"Huh?" Kurumu asked, not understanding what she meant.

"You said it yourself, Christian and Moka are both are friends and despite lying to us they don't deserve to die!" Yukari declared, grabbing Kurumu's hand and pulling her off the bench. "Both Moka and Christian have risked their lives in order to ensure our safety before. It's our turn to help them!"

This time, it was Kurumu who found she could not respond to Yukari's comment. It was true. Christian and Moka had saved them before and worked to ensure that everyone in the club was happy. So what if they had lied, no one deserved to die. Looking at the driven Yukari, she smiled. "You're right, Yukari. Just like always." She said softly. "C'mon lets go and save our friends, there will be plenty of time for Moka to beg our forgiveness after that." Kurumu declared, leaving out Christian.

Just as the girls were about to head back to the Security Committee shrine, an explosion rocked the area ahead of them.

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Minutes earlier, Moka sat curled up in her cell, burying her face into her knees. Helplessness consuming her. Christian was on death row, Kurumu and Yukari wanted nothing to do with them and Zack was a member of the enforcers. She was trapped and too powerless to do anything.

"I'm so sorry, Christian." She murmured, just as the Rosario began to glow, illuminating the darkness with its crimson light.

"**Giving up already?" **Inner Moka asked, her voice monotonous.

"No." Moka replied, although her tone said otherwise. "I'd do anything if it meant I could save Christian. It's just that unless the Rosario's removed, I don't have the strength to do it."

"**You don't think you're the only one who's worried about him do you?" **Inner Moka asked, surprising Outer Moka. **"Despite the fact Christian is human and is currently without the Omnitrix, he is very resourceful. I'm sure he will find a way to get away." **

"You have a lot of faith in him." Outer Moka pointed out, the tiniest of smiles on her face. "I'm honestly surprised."

"**I just respect his abilities." **Inner Moka stated. **"Nothing more, nothing less." **With that the Rosario ceased glowing and Moka was left alone.

"I don't believe that." Moka murmured before she felt a shiver. She hadn't noticed but the room's temperature had suddenly dropped dramatically. "When did it get so cold?" The pinkette asked no one in particular.

"When I froze the guards." A familiar raspy voice answered.

Moka's head snapped round to see a blue, moth man with green bug like eyes and a strange mouth. The being was draped in in a blue cloak that made him look like a phantom. Despite the beings cold exterior, his green eyes were warm and filled Moka with an abundance of hope.

"Christian?" Moka asked, getting to her feet. Joyful tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"You've seen another alien moth man running around?" Big Chill asked mischievously before he remembered that Zack currently had his powers. "Actually, don't answer that."

"Christian!" Moka cried happily, running over to the bars. "You're alright! How did you get the Omnitrix back?"

"Kuyo's not the smartest guy when he thinks he's getting what he wants." Big Chill replied, opening up his cloak to reveal the Omnitrix symbol. "Stand back." He warned before pressing the symbol and transforming into Diamondhead. Once Moka was out of the way, the silicon like alien morphed his hand into a blade and swiped at the bars, slicing them apart easily and created a doorway. Diamondhead slapped the symbol and in flash transformed back into Christian. No sooner had Christian reverted did Moka throw herself at the human, wrapping him in the biggest hug anyone could imagine.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Moka cried, tears of joy falling down her face. "I was so worried."

"Shhh." Christian soothed, running the back of her head in reassurance. "Everything's fine. It's time to get out of here."

"No one is going anywhere!" A cold, and powerful voice sounded to their left.

Both teens looked to see Kuyo standing with the wrath of the gods embezzled on his face, the enforcer wearing glasses, the girl carrying a bo staff and giant enforcer at his side.

"Kuyo!" Christian cried in shock. "How did you get out of Big Chill's ice so quickly? It's stronger than normal ice."

"That? It was nothing against my power." Kuyo bragged. "Tell me Hawke, are you afraid to die?"

Seeing that there was no chance of getting out without a fight, Christian reached for the Omnitrix. "Moka stay back." He warned. "It's about to get hot in here." Activating it and slapping down on the core, there was a blinding emerald flash. When it faded, Christian had turned into a muscular plant man.

"Swampfire!" the alien cried before throwing his arms forward and sending out a torrent of flames towards the enforcers. Kuyo merely stood his ground, not concerned in the slightest. The other three weren't so lucky. Before they even had the chance to transform, the fire had reached them and they found themselves consumed by the flames. Once they had faded, the three fell to the ground, their uniforms singed and burnt in a few places. The glasses boy half transformed into a being that possessed fur and disturbingly…extra heads. Thankfully, due to their accelerated healing factor due to being monsters, the three would make a full recovery.

Kuyo looked back to his fallen subordinates and snarled, not liking that they had been taken out so easily. He turned towards his opponents only to discover that they were running away. "Where are you going Hawke!?" He shouted after them a flame appearing in his hand. "There is no where you can hide you can run from me!"

"That's why you won't be going anywhere for a while." Swampfire called back. "Enjoy the methane!"

"Methane?" Kuyo repeated, confused before he sniffed. His eyes widened to discover that there was indeed a rotten smell filling his nostrils. Apparently the form Hawke had turned into secreted the wretched gas and had filled the room with it after his first attack, and now Kuyo had an open flame in the palm of his hand. "Shi-!" Kuyo started before the room ignited and exploded.

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As soon as they had left the room, Swampfire had pressed the Omnitrix symbol on his chest and quickly transformed into XLR8 before grabbing Moka and speeding out of the Committee shrine at top speeds, getting out into the open air just before the jail cells exploded, a pillar of smoke appearing over the area.

Changing back, Christian dropped to his knees. It had taken a lot out of him to spread that much methane at once as Swampfire. "Are you alright Christian?" Moka asked, concerned for her friend.

"I'm good." Christian waved off. "I just need to catch my breath."

"Christian! Moka!" A young squeaky voice sounded, causing the two teens to turn and see Yukari running towards them, a look of relief on her face.

"Yukari!" The pair in question called out in surprise as Yukari tackled them in a joint hug and began crying. "I'm so glad you two are alright!" The witch cried.

"What are you doing here Yukari?" Christian asked, still a little in shock of seeing the girl.

"We're here to rescue her of course." Yukari replied.

"We?" Moka asked, confused.

"We." Another familiar voice stated. The two teen looked towards the origin of the voice to discover Kurumu standing before them, her eyes covered by her cerulean hair.

"Kurumu…" Christian said with wide eyes. "You came." Yukari released both Christian and Moka and watched the Succubus with intrigue.

Kurumu walked towards the pair and did something unexpected. Like Yukari, she pulled the pair into a hug. "I'm sorry for shouting at you guys." She said, tears beginning to stream. "You shouldn't have lied to us, but we should have been more understanding."

"Kurumu…" Moka said in shock. She had expected to be slapped again.

"How sweet." A sickening voice said from behind the teens. Turning they saw Kuyo standing before them, a deranged smile on his face. Beside him was a familiar velociraptor like alien with blueish white skin and blue eyes. Positive XLR8. Behind them was the unconscious forms of the three enforcers Christian had taken care of earlier. Apparently Positive XLR8 had rushed in at the last moment and gotten the security members out of harm's way, not that Kuyo had needed it. "Friends reuniting." The blonde continued as Positive XLR8 reverted back in to Zack, his hood up. "It makes me sick. I think it's time to purge our school of the human menace and those he has corrupted. Don't you agree Zack?"

The boy in question remained silent, however he was clearly sending Christian a death glare.

Christian stepped out defensively in front of his friends. "There is no chance in hell I'm letting you anywhere near them."

"You don't really have a choice." Kuyo responded, Zack remained eerily silent.

Christian reached for the Omnitrix in order to turn into something he hoped could take down Zack and Kuyo. However, before he had even reached the faceplate, vine roots suddenly sprung out of the ground and ensnared the two boys.

"What?!" Kuyo shouted as he pulled against the vines wrapped around his hand.

"Why won't it come off?!" Zack cried as he struggle to remove the vines that were wrapped around his legs.

Christian turned around to see that Kurumu was in her monster form and that her eyes were glowing. Christian quickly deduced that she was using her illusions to buy them time to escape. Quickly activating the Omnitrix, Christian transformed in to a familiar orange parrot like alien with a strange formation on its back.

"Astrodactyl!" The alien squawked. Spreading out his glider like wings, Astrodactyl ignited his jet pack and took to the air. "Kurumu! You take Yukari and follow me!" He cried as he swept down and picked up Moka underneath her armpits. Kurumu nodded and did the same thing with Yukari, picking her up before flapping her wings and taking off after Astrodactyl.

Kuyo on the other hand realised there was something strange about the vines that held him. He could neither feel them nor could his fire affect them. "Illusions." He growled. Calming his mind, Kuyo raised his monster energy until the vines that ensnared him seemingly burned away. Seeing this, Zack allowed his anger to rise and let a red aura spread over his body and cause the vine holding him to dissipate into nothing. Now free, Zack took some deep breaths and cooled off.

"We're going after them, aren't we?" He asked, transforming into his version of Astrodactyl as he said so.

"Let them run." Kuyo challenged, looking in the direction he had seen the four fly off in. "It won't do them any good against one of my power." With those words Kuyo jumped a ridiculous amount towards the school, Positive Astrodactyl following closely behind.

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Astrodactyl landed with Moka on the roof of the school where he had originally talked to Moka about humans on the first day. Kurumu and Yukari landed a few seconds later. After taking a few minutes to catch his breath, Astrodactyl heard the Omnitrix begin to beep. After a bright flash, Christian once again stood amongst his friends. "Shit!" Christian cursed, looking at the Omnitrix. "Why now?" Obviously so many quick changes had drained the power faster than it could recharge and now it wasn't working at all.

"We need to get you out of here." Kurumu stated.

"At the minute, all we need is to get me out of sight." Christian replied.

"No!" Moka argued. "It's too dangerous for you to stay here now. You need to escape."

"I'm not leaving." Christian countered. "Kuyo needs to be taken down. And I have just the alien to do it."

"Alien?!" Kurumu and Yukari cried in shock.

"We'll talk about it later." Christian replied, not in the mood for explaining. "For now, I need to find a place to hide before Kuyo finds us."

"Too late!" A familiar voice sounded. The four teen turned to see Kuyo and Zack standing twenty meters away from them, both looking ready to fight. "There is nowhere left to run Hawke. It's a shame it won't be public but your execution shall now be carried out." A mischievous spread across his face. "But first," He said as a flame appeared in his hand. "YOUR FRIENDS WILL DIE!" With one fluid motion, Kuyo sent a spear of fire hurtling towards Moka at high speeds.

Seeing it approaching, Moka closed her eyes in fear, thinking that she was done for. However, at the last moment, the vampire girl felt someone push her out of the way. Opening her eyes, Moka saw something that would haunt her dreams to come. Standing with his arm still stretched out was Christian, a spear of flame pierced through his body. The other girls found themselves speechless as they looked at the boy of their affections. To the side of Kuyo, Zack was also bug eyed with disbelief, unable to comprehend what he had just seen. Kuyo however looked quite angry. "Hey! You can't die until you've suffered!"

Suddenly the flames from the spear spread of the rest of Christian's body, burning away the top half of his school uniform and leaving the skin black and charred. Crying out in agony, Christian fell to the floor, no longer able to support his own weight.

Acting instantly, the girls rushed towards their fallen friend, Moka scooping her up into her arms. "No! No! Christian, please! Stay awake! You can't die on me like this!" Moka cried, desperately trying to keep him awake, tears once again flowing like rivers down her face. Kurumu and Yukari remained silent, unable to find any words to say as Moka cradled their friend.

Difficultly, Christian raised his burned arm so that it was on Moka's cheek. Despite the pain he was in, Christian smiled kindly at the girl. "Moka…If I don't make it…I want you to know…how happy I am I was given this mission…" Christian spoke, his voice no louder than a whisper. "My life became so much brighter… coming to this academy… joining the Newspaper Club…and meeting you."

"DON'T TALK LIKE THAT!" Moka screamed, pulling Christian close to her.

"There's just…one thing I wish to ask of you." He said, making Moka look at him in the eyes. "Protect the Newspaper Club…protect our friends…and tell Max, I'm sorry." Christian moved his hand so that it was on top of the Rosario. "You mean…so…much…to…meeeeeeee" Christian trailed off as he breathed his last, his hand giving way and falling to the ground, removing the Rosario as he did so.

For a few moments nothing happened, Moka didn't transform, the other girls didn't move and Kuyo and Zack remained still. Even the wind didn't flow. Everything was deadly silent.

"Christian…" Moka tried, breaking the silence. "Christian?" She had no reply. Realising what his silence meant, Moka let out a long and piercing scream as her monster energy exploded, her body being consumed in purple pillar of pure monster energy. Her hair turned silver and eyes became blood red, slitting as they did so. The sky became red and a terrifying aura, unlike any other filled the area.

With his dying breath, Christian Hawke had released Moka Akashiya's Inner Self and had given his friends the biggest chance they had to stop Kuyo once and for all.

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**So, what do you think? Was it good or bad? Please leave your reviews and thoughts for me to read to know what I did well and what I could improve. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter as much as I did writing it. **

**I'll see you next time when the arc will end. **

**Quick note, Christian will not become a ghoul. I have no intention of doing that at all. I have something different in mind.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Hey guys I'm back with the final chapter of the Security Committee arc. I hope you enjoy the chapter as much as I did writing it. As always leave your review so I know what I did well and what I can do to improve. By the way, concept art for Armopterra, Lightsout, Dashslicer, Grimlock, Ultimate Crabdozer and the official Alien Watch in a Monster School cover image are on deviant art, not to mention some aliens and monsters that Christian and Zack will have access to in the future. I want to say a big thank you to Lewamus Prime who drew them and AwesomeMoorwen who posted them. If you want to see these pictures, you can find them on MrRyders (AwesomeMoorwen's) page on deviant art.**

**Without further ado, I hope you enjoy **

**PS: Sorry about the cheesy references in this chapter. You'll know them when you read them.**

"**..." Speech**

'**...' Quote **

'**Hi' Thought**

"**Learn your place!" Inner Moka through Rosario**

**Feedback=Christian**

**Positive Feedback=Zack**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC, everything else belongs to their own creators. **

**Alien Watch in a Monster School**

**The Final Confrontation, Return of the Hero**

_Darkness. That was all he knew. A sea of nothingness. Christian couldn't feel, couldn't see and couldn't hear anything as he found himself floating through the endless abyss of midnight black. _

'_Where am I?' Christian asked himself. 'How did I get here?' Suddenly, the memories of recent events flooded his mind. Zack gaining his Ultramatrix, Kuyo outing him in front of several members of the student body, his fight with Zack that ended in his capture, his interrogation and confession, his and Moka's escape and finally, him pushing Moka out of the way of Kuyo's blaze. 'I guess I'm dead…' Christian worked out before a small content smile appeared on his face as he remembered that had been able to free Moka's inner self before he had…died. Christian knew that Inner Moka would be able to take down Kuyo and Zack and would save their friends. Knowing that was enough for him. Of course, Christian still had some regrets. Not capturing his parents killer was one, another was that he been unable to spend more time with his friends. However, his greatest regret was that he had been unable to tell Moka his true feelings. _

_Unfortunately it was too late now. Christian could feel himself fading as the last remnants of his consciousness slipped away. Just before he had finally succumbed to his fate, the Plumber boy heard a voice calling out to him._

"_Christian…" The voice was deep but unthreatening. There was also something familiar about it. A strange sense of nostalgia ran through Christian. "Christian…" The voice said again, prompting the boy in question to open his eyes only to be greeted with a blinding light. "Christian!" The voice cried once more. Finally, the Plumber teen recognised it. It was one that he hadn't heard in over nine years._

'_Dad?' _

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In the real world, Kurumu and Yukari, lay beside Christian's body, watching as Inner Moka rose to her feet, her expression one of unmeasurable anger and fury. The other girls were shivering in fear at the vast amount of killing intent coming from the silver haired vampire teen, all directed at the blonde boy standing twenty metres away.

Kuyo, however, was unfazed by the vampire girl's terrifying aura. Instead, he decided to mock her. "My, my, my. Now isn't this a treat? The filthy human's last act was to release the power of the traitor to her kind." Inner Moka remained silent. "I suppose I should thank him. I've always wanted to test my power against one of you. It will cement my position as head enforcer at the academy. It's such a shame he's dead."

Inner Moka's eyes widened as her anger reached a new level. Saying nothing, she dashed forward in blur of motion, disappearing from sight until she was directly behind Kuyo. With one swift movement, Inner Moka swivel kicked Kuyo in the back, sending the blonde flying through the air at high speeds before he smashed into the side of the bell tower the school possessed.

Inner Moka then turned towards the second enforcer currently on the roof, Zack. The black haired teen was a little out of it. He was looking directly at Christian's charred body and the girls who were currently crying beside it. His mind had been a blank ever since he had watched Christian fall. Suddenly, he felt someone grab him harshly around the collar and hoist him up into the air. Looking at his attacker, Zack found the extremely pissed off Inner Moka staring at him with her fierce blood coloured eyes. The Doppelganger teen felt afraid looking into those eyes. They were the eyes of someone who had lost a friend, someone who had lost a loved one.

"You…" Inner Moka growled, her voice as sharp as a knife. "How dare you even look at him after what you have done! This. Is. All. Your! Fault!" Zack remained silent, unable to answer. His refusal to answer though only served to fuel Inner Moka's anger. "You let your power consume you and betrayed a friend who only wished to help you." Inner Moka then released her grip on Zack collar allowing the boy to drop to the ground. However, Inner Moka was far from done with him. "Leave until you discover where your true allegiances lie." Inner Moka told him, bringing up her leg. "Therefore, learn your place!" She yelled, kicking Zack off the roof and into the forest below.

Her work done, Inner Moka turned back towards where Yukari and Kurumu were over Christian body, their heads down. Seeing this, Inner Moka felt great sadness rise from within her. As she closed them, two tears fell from her eyes as she too lowered her head. She currently had no idea what her feelings towards the human were, but for some reason it felt like she had lost someone of great value.

B-DUM

Inner Moka's eyes snapped open, hearing the sound of a weak, but present, heartbeat.

B-DUM

Hope gathered within Inner Moka. He wasn't dead. Christian was still alive, if just barely. And that meant she had the chance to save him. And she was going to take it.

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_Back in the confines of Christian's mind, the teen was finding it hard to believe what he was seeing. The light had long since faded to reveal a man who appeared to be the older version of Christian, however there were a few key differences. For one, the man was slightly more muscular and had longer hair than Christian that came down to his eyes. The man also sported a small beard that made him look more distinguished. He appeared to be in his late thirties, possibly his early forties. He was wearing a black, buttoned up shirt with white trousers. This man was James Hawke, Christian's father. Christian couldn't help but notice that his body seemed to be flickering as if it he was struggling to stay in existence._

"_Hello son." James spoke, his voice seemed to reverberate through the darkness around them. "I see you're in a bit of trouble." _

"_Dad…" Christian spoke, his voice was trembling as he looked at his father. "I guess I'm really dead."_

_James chuckled slightly. "Not yet, but you gave it your best shot protecting your little vampire girlfriend." _

_Christian blushed slightly. "She's not my girlfriend." He stated._

"_But you want her to be." James replied cheekily. "It's all up here, inside your head." _

"_Wha…?" Christian asked, slightly surprised "What do you mean, 'inside my head'?" _

"_Well that's where we are." James replied, gesturing out around them. "You are currently on the edge of life and death and before I intervened, you were about to give in." _

"_So…you saved me." Christian realised._

"_Of course I did! You're my son after all!" His father exclaimed with a happy grin on his face. "Well, kind of." _

"_What do you mean by that?" Christian asked, now very confused. _

"_As I said before, this is your head." James stated. "Therefore you are still alive, but barely. Your body is doing all it can to survive. I'm merely your subconscious trying to keep your mind active and prevent you from giving in." However a solemn expression quickly appeared on the older man's face. "Unfortunately, it is not enough and you're slowly fading. I believe that you have minutes left." _

_Christian suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower half and looked down to discover that the tips of his feet were slowly disappearing, dissolving into tiny particles of light. "Is there anything I can do?" _

"_Unfortunately, no." _

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Zack was lying in a small trench of dirt and wood that had been created when he had hit the ground. Fortunately for him, he had changed into Positive Diamondhead mid-air which had protected him from the collision. However, after changing back, Zack had made no attempt to get up. His mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of Inner Moka's words. Was he wrong? Had he been stupid?

'_Of course not.' _A voice in his head protested, it was wild and crazed. _'Hawke has gotten exactly what he deserved.' _

'_But did he?' _Another voice said, this one was much kinder and sounded more like Zack. _'What Moka said was right. Christian only said what he did to protect you. You know that.' _

'_He was holding you back.' _The first voice countered. _'You have his powers now. You can take down Kuyo and rule this school.'_

'_He was your friend. Use your power to stop Kuyo and avenge him. Kuyo is the true enemy.'_

'_Destroy him and take your rightful place as king of the school.' _

Zack was conflicted, his rationality and his power driven ambitions battling for dominance. Memories of the time he had spent with Christian and the other members of the Newspaper Club flashed as images in his mind, reminding the boy of both the good times…and the bad.

Zack's eyes closed as the memories began to become painful. He knew he needed to make a decision and now was the moment.

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"How? How could this happen?" Kurumu cried for the umpteenth time, tears streaming down her face. "Why did he have to die?"

"Christian only tried to protect us!" Yukari sobbed, hanging on to Kurumu as if she were her big sister. "He didn't deserve this!"

"Stand back." The stern voice of Inner Moka sounded, causing both girls to turn and see her walking towards Christian with fierce determination. "Hawke's heart is still beating, it's faint but still present. If I hurry he might just make it."

"You mean…he's alive?" Kurumu asked, hope filling her. "What are you going to do to him?"

Inner Moka was silent for a second as she picked up Christian's charred body and held him in her arms. Without taking her eyes off the boy, Inner Moka replied, "I'm going to give him my blood."

"You're going to do what!?" Kurumu exclaimed, shocked by the vampire girls reply.

"That could work." Yukari stated, surprising Kurumu. "Vampires are immortal beings. Their blood has great healing characteristics. If she were to do this, Christian may just recover."

"Really?" Kurumu asked, hope increasing greatly.

"It's a long shot." Inner Moka replied truthfully, a hint of regret in her voice. "His chances are slim and there is a good chance that what I'm about to do will fail." The other two girls were silent, their spirits diminishing slightly. "There are also other drawbacks," She continued. "However at this point we don't have much of a choice."

Suddenly, an explosion sounded from above the three. Looking up, they saw smoke billowing out of the bell tower where Inner Moka had kicked Kuyo. Out of the smoke, a creature with the appearance of a multi tailed fox jumped from the hole. It had four tails and possessed golden fur. The beast possessed tattoos on its shoulders and had hair similar to Kuyo's growing from its head. Flames blazed over its body dangerously which were more potent around its tails.

"Is that Kuyo?" Kurumu asked fearfully.

"He's so powerful." Yukari whimpered, her eyes wide with fright.

Inner Moka said nothing as she glared at the fox like being. However, her hands were slightly trembling. _'He's a Yoko?! A spirit fox that was sometimes known for being a god amongst humans in ancient times.' _

"Your powers don't disappoint vampire!" Kuyo cried out, his voice emanating with power. Suddenly, flames began to emanate and gather around the tips of the tails, the fire swirling around into a wheel of bright orange flames that increased in size by the second.

"He's gathering his monster energy into his tails!" Yukari cried in alarm.

The flames encircling the fox demons tails grew to an extremely large size that would have all the power needed to turn Inner Moka, Christian's body, Kurumu and Yukari to ashes. "Have a taste…of my Fire Wheel!" Kuyo cried as he sent the fire wheel rocketing towards the teens.

"There's no chance we can dodge that!" Yukari cried.

"This can't be the end!" Kurumu shouted.

"Move faster and it won't!" A familiar voice shouted that shocked the girls.

The wheel of flame struck the area where the four were standing with a great explosion that rocked the school. A plume of smoke rose from the area that had been stuck.

"What a let-down, they're all dead." Kuyo growled, a strange smirk appearing on his fox like face.

"You spoke to soon Kuyo!" The same voice as earlier cried, surprising the spirit fox as a being moving at high speeds attacked him at from the side, delivering a hundred strikes within the space of a second. To the naked eye, it looked as if the fox monster was being attacked by the air itself. Kuyo was sent flying back, unable to block the assault. Landing on his side, Kuyo struggled to rise to his feet as his attacker appeared in front of him.

Standing only a few feet away was a silver haired werewolf wearing the academy uniform and a wolf choker around his neck. It was Gin, the head of the Newspaper Club. "I won't let you touch anymore members of my club." His voice was a scary monotone as he took a step forward. "Here's a new school rule for you: Anyone who harms a member of my club, gets ripped to shreds." With that, Kuyo received several more strikes with enough force to send him back through the roof and into the bell tower once more, the ground beneath him crumpling like paper. With that, Gin relaxed slightly and reverted back to his human form. In a dash of movement, the werewolf teen jumped down to the roof where he was met with the other members of his club who were now looking at him in an all new light. Just before Kuyo's attack had hit them, the werewolf teen had used his speed and managed to get everyone out of harm's way several meters from the blaze.

"Wow Gin…" Kurumu began. "That was…"

"Unexpected…" Yukari finished.

Inner Moka remained silent, she was more focused on Christian's condition. She could tell he was fading fast, his heart beat was even fainter than it had been before. _'He won't last much longer. I need to hurry.' _

"Ginei Morioka!" A fierce, demonic voice cried, causing all members to turn around only to see another Fire Wheel being sent towards them. This time, Gin was caught off guard and was unable to help move fast enough to save both him and his club mates. The werewolf was now left with a choice; Jump out of the way and save himself but sacrifice his club or take the attack himself and save the ones behind him. It was an easy choice.

The attack hit the ground in front of the five, once again shaking the school. Once the dark plumes of smoke had cleared, Inner Moka, Kurumu and Yukari were shocked to discover that they were unharmed. In front of them, standing firmly in place with his arms spread out protectively, was a half transformed Gin. His arms were coated with fur which was now blackened and burned away. His upper uniform was in tatters and he was shaking in pain. However, despite this, Gin possessed a small smile. "Idiot…I…am such…an idiot." Gin murmured as he collapsed to the ground, no longer able to stand.

"GIN!" Yukari cried, running over to the boy and checking on him. Luckily, he appeared to still be alive, only unconscious. "He's okay." The witch reported to the older girls. "He has some pretty intense burns but with a werewolf's healing factor he should recover quickly."

"That's good." Kurumu replied, relieved to know Gin was going to be okay. "I guess he can act like a hero when he wants to be."

Inner Moka only nodded.

"What a shame…" Kuyo's voice sounded, causing the girls to across the roof to see the flaming fox standing proudly at the other end of the roof. "That attack should have killed him. I suppose he was stronger than I expected. I will not make the same mistake next time."

"You bastard!" Inner Moka shouted, infuriated. She was about to stand when Kurumu and Yukari moved in front of her.

"Moka, we'll take this guy." Kurumu stated defiantly, glaring at Kuyo with hate filled eyes.

"You save Christian, it's going to take all of us if we're going to take Kuyo down." Yukari declared with far more conviction than an eleven year old should have.

"What are you talking about?!" Inner Moka demanded. "He could kill you."

"You think we don't know that?" Kurumu replied, not sounding intimidated by the Inner Moka's comment at all.

"We know the risks." Yukari continued. "We also know you need time to revive him, we can buy you that time."

Inner Moka looked at the girls with surprise. They were showing a level of maturity that the vampire girl hadn't expected. Deciding that the girls were right, Inner Moka stood up, hoisting Christian up with her. "Very well. However, don't give me orders again." With that Inner Moka prepared for what she was about to do.

Across the roof, Kuyo was eyeing the girls like chunks of meat. He didn't care what order they faced him in. They would all fall eventually. "Tell me…" He began, "Who wants to die next?"

Kurumu and Yukari glared at the monster in front of them. "Are you ready pancakes?" The succubus asked, entering her monster form.

"Ha! I should be asking you that juggles." Yukari countered, raising her wand. "Let's take this creep." She cried as ran forward.

"Damn right!" Kurumu replied, taking to the air.

As the girls ran off, Inner Moka closed her eyes and allowed her monster energy to flow. _'Christian, I give you my blood. Take it and come back to us.' _She thought as she sunk her teeth into Christian's neck. _'Come back to me…'_

Inner Moka began pumping her blood into Christian, allowing the precious substance to enter Christian's veins.

'_Come back to me.'_

As Inner Moka continued to pump her blood into the boy, she was unaware that the touch pad on the Omnitrix was turning a purplish red.

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_Back with Christian, the boy in question was still fading away, his entire lower body had disappeared leaving only his torso, arms and head. The image of his father was still with him though. There had been silence between the two for quite some time. _

_It was just as Christian's arms began to fade that James began to speak again. "Is there anything you're going to miss, son?" _

_Christian chuckled. "Yeah, I guess there will be a few things." _

"_The vampire girl is one of them right?" James asked cheekily, making Christian shake his head slightly, no longer bothering to be embarrassed. _

"_I'm going to miss all of my friends. It hurts to know that I will be unable to see them again." Christian replied. "I'm just sorry that I was unable to help Zack and beat Kuyo with the others." _

"_Well, I'm sure those girls in your club will handle him." James replied. "After all, they have that all powerful vampire along with them." He said, once again hinting at Christian's attraction to Moka._

"_Can we stop talking about Moka for a while?" Christian pleaded. "I would greatly appreciate it. Besides, if you're my subconscious, why did you chose to take the appearance of my father? It's a little cliché don't you think?" _

"_Would you rather I be someone else. You're dying, isn't it nice to see someone you haven't seen in years?" James countered before sighing and moving closer to his 'son'. "Listen, I know that this may seem like the end… but you shouldn't give up hope. There is still a chance you will survive this."_

"_I appreciate that you're trying to give me confidence and all but let's face it, I'm a goner." Christian replied with good will, his arms now gone along with his upper torso. Christian was now literally head and shoulders._

"_You shouldn't lose faith son." James stated. "As long as you are able to stand on your feet you can keep fighting." _

"_If you haven't noticed, I don't have any feet." Christian countered, using his head to gesture to his non-existent body._

"_You know full well that's not what I meant." James replied with a hint of annoyance. "Son, if you survive, you don't need to be afraid anymore."_

"_Of Kuyo? That blond bastard doesn't even give me the willies." Christian stated. "He's nothing more than a bully who needs learn a lesson." _

"_I know you're not afraid of Kuyo." The image of his father told him. "I meant you don't need to be afraid of that little feature on the Omnitrix that allows you to evolve your aliens." _

"_The Ultimates…" Christian sighed, remembering the one time he had used the evolution function. "They're too powerful to control. I don't know why though. Ben seemed to have complete control over them." _

"_You're not Ben, Christian." James stated, placing his hands in his pockets. "He has been using his aliens a lot longer than you have. It's not your fault." His tone was kind and soothing, Christian found himself relaxed by it. "It was because of this fear that you refused to use the Ultimates against your friend, Zack isn't it?" Christian didn't reply, giving his father the confirmation he was correct. "You don't need to be afraid son. The Ultimates are reflections of you, not the other way around. You are the one in control, not them." Christian listened to his father, taking in his words. "Control the aggression the aliens have, make it your power and protect your friends." _

_Christian was moved by James's words, hearing them from the voice of his father had given him strength. However he knew it was pointless, after all he was about to disappear. "Thanks dad." He said sadly, closing his eyes. "But it looks like I'm about to go." With those words Christian's face began to disappear, spreading into particles until only his right eye was left. But, just as it was about to disappear, the darkness around the area gained a purplish, red hue. James looked around, smiling to himself. _

"_I wouldn't count yourself out yet son. This has only just begun." _

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Kurumu flew gracefully though the air as she dodged Kuyo's fire attacks. Ever since the battle had started, Kuyo had been letting out attack after attack in the hopes of taking out the Succubus/Witch duo. Kurumu, being air born, was able to dodge with ease. Unfortunately, Yukari wasn't so lucky. She was unable to fly and she wasn't fast enough to dodge all of Kuyo's attacks. Therefore, the young witch was forced to summon a large golden wash tub to shield her from the flames. However, as the tub was made of metal it conducted the heat and made her protection dangerous to be close to. Not only that, but the magically enhanced wash tub was beginning to melt.

"Kurumu! I could use some help here!" Yukari cried, wincing when she touched the now boiling pot by accident.

"Hold on!" Her friend cried, dive bombing forward towards the fox demon at high speeds.

"You pathetic weaklings! As if you could ever touch me!" Kuyo cried, increasing his monster energy and therefore increasing the amount of flames around him. This intense level of heat caused Kurumu to cease her attack and fall back to a safe distance. However, flapping her wings at top speeds, Kurumu shot past Yukari and picked her up before the flames reached the witch.

"Thanks Kurumu." Yukari murmured, exhausted from being so close to the heat. Looking down at the enflamed Kuyo, Yukari couldn't believe how hot it had become. "How are we even going to touch him? If we get to close to him while he's like this, we could be incinerated."

"I don't know…" Kurumu admitted. The older girl was scared, at this rate Kuyo would take them out and then there would be no one left to defend Inner Moka while she revived Christian.

"It looks like I have missed some of the party." A high pitched squawk sounded, alerting the girls' to another arrival. Turning around, they saw a familiar parrot like being with glider like wings and a jet pack like structure on his back emitting blue energy. He was wearing a blue and black uniform similar that coated his body. A blue Ultramatrix symbol was present on his left shoulder.

"Zack!" The girls cried in alarm, getting ready for another fight; Kurumu extending her claws in the hand that wasn't holding Yukari whilst the witch in question raised her wand defensively.

Hearing the outburst, Kuyo looked towards the figure in the sky to see his new lackey flying only meters away from his opponents. "Ahh, Zack." The enforcer greeted. "It's good to see you could join us. You missed me teaching the werewolf fool his lesson." He declared, causing Positive Astrodactyl to look over to the unconscious Gin who was still face down on the floor. "Now that you are here you can help me finish these fools who would dare to stand against the Security Committee. Come! Assist me!"

Positive Astrodactyl remained silent, moving his gaze to where Inner Moka was still injecting Christian with her blood. Turning back to Kuyo, Positive Astrodactyl decreased his altitude until he landed on the roof.

"What's he doing?" Kurumu whispered to Yukari.

"I don't know." The witch replied, watching the alien intensely.

"Orion! Attack now!" Kuyo ordered.

Suddenly, a blue aura spread over Positive Astrodactyl as his body became taller, more muscular and metallic. Within a few seconds, Positive Astrodactyl had transformed Positive Grimlock. "With pleasure…" Positive Grimlock growled, ejecting his blade from his wrist. Once the sword was powered up, Positive Grimlock jumped high into the air towards Kurumu and Yukari, who were in between him and Kuyo. However much to the girls and Kuyo's shock, Positive Grimlock went straight past them and headed towards the spirit fox. Kuyo only just managed to jump out of the way of the attack, using his legs to perform a back flip. However, if he had been a moment slower, Positive Grimlock could have cut him in the two.

"What are you doing Orion!?" Kuyo shouted in outrage. "How dare you attack me!? Your leader! Your master!"

"Grimlock…" The alien began. "IS SLAVE TO NO ONE!" He thundered, charging at Kuyo once again like an angry beast. When close, he swiped the sword at the monster teen with enough force to obliterate a small house. Unfortunately, Kuyo was faster and once again used his legs to jump over the swing and send a blast of flame at Positive Grimlock's face.

A wild smile appeared on Kuyo's face, thinking that he had hurt Positive Grimlock. "That should teach you for standing against me. But why would you betray me? Don't you want revenge on Haw-?" Kuyo was cut off as Positive Grimlock's free hand reached out and grabbed Kuyo around his fox like waist. With a swift movement, Positive Grimlock threw Kuyo high into the air before flowing energy into his sword creating a flame like aura. Grasping the sword in two hands, the mechanical titan sung his weapon in an arc in the direction of Kuyo's currently flying body. The result was a crescent of fire that soared towards the fox monster, hitting him full on and creating a small explosion in the air that sent a small shockwave through the area. Positive Grimlock deactivated his sword and turned away. He looked towards the two apprehensive girls before approaching them. The girls, still ready to fight, steeled themselves for another fight before Positive Grimlock did something unexpected. He bowed.

"Grimlock was wrong. Grimlock should have understood Bro's intentions and not allow himself to be overtaken by power." Positive Grimlock explained with a hint of regret.

"Wha?" Kurumu remarked, absolutely confused.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Yukari asked, giving Positive Grimlock a questioning look.

"Grimlock back on right side." The metal titan stated, giving the girls a thumbs up. "Grimlock…Zack is sorry."

Kurumu and Yukari looked at each other for a moment, not knowing what to do. Zack had betrayed them but he had quite literally just saved them. Before either of them could reply to Zack, an obnoxious cry rang out before a large blaze came from above, striking Positive Grimlock in the back causing the titan to stumble from the force of the blow.

"You think you can kill me using fire!?" Kuyo screamed, landing back on the roof, his tails emblazed with flame due to his rage. "You shall pay for your insolence Orion! You choose these traitors over your own kin!"

"Grimlock do!" Grimlock shouted, once again brining out his sword and standing protectively in front of the girls. "Grimlock made mistake betraying friends, he make it right taking down girly haired fox!"

"That will be your last mistake!" Kuyo shouted, rushing forward with Positive Grimlock doing the same. When the two powerhouses collided an epic battle broke out with Positive Grimlock lashing out at the fox like monster with his sword, and Kuyo blasting the metal being with his fire.

Unfortunately, Kuyo was smaller and faster than Positive Grimlock meaning that he could dodge the titan's attacks with relative ease and was able to evade his powerful assaults. However, Positive Grimlock's body was made of thick armour and protected him from Kuyo's fiery assaults. This meant that both combatants were at a standstill, barely being able to harm the other.

However, with each swing of his sword, Positive Grimlock damaged a part of the roof, alerting the students below to the battle taking place above them. Cracks began to splinter along the ground showing that the structural integrity of the roof was deteriorating.

"Zack! Put away your sword!" Yukari shouted in alarm after seeing the destruction being reeked.

"You're wrecking the school!" Kurumu added.

"Grimlock listens to no one!" The hot headed titan shouted back, taking another swing at Kuyo who dodged it resulting in the demolishment of the railing around the roof. "But perhaps it best if Grimlock stop using his sword…" He conceded, finally realizing the damage he was causing, his blade powering down and going back into his arm.

"Sword or not, you will lose eventually!" Kuyo taunted, standing only meters away.

"Grimlock never lose to girl haired man like you!" Positive Grimlock roared, charging forward once again.

"Girl haired?" Kuyo asked indignantly. "It's time I taught you what happens to those who defy me!" With that, the Yoko charged forward; angry, orange flames spreading all over his body. Once they were close, Kuyo jumped at Positive Grimlock and used his sharp claws to dig into the titan's metal hide. From there, Kuyo proceeded to move around Positive Grimlock's body until he was clinging to his back. "This is a powerful form Orion but it has one fatal weakness! It is made of metal! And all metal melts eventually!" He cried as he increased the flaming aura around him dramatically.

Positive Grimlock drastically tried to grab at the monster on his back, his core temperature rising dramatically. Just as the metal on his back began to bubble and drip, the titan managed to grab a hold of one of Kuyo's tails and threw him off his back. However, due to amount of heat that Positive Grimlock had been exposed to, the titan was forced to fall to his knees.

Kuyo, who had once again landed on his feet, laughed at Positive Grimlock. "What's wrong Orion? Don't tell me you're feeling a little heatstroke?"

"Grimlock…can…still…win…" Positive Grimlock grumbled tiredly, trying to get back up.

"You still have spirit…good." Kuyo remarked before a ball of fire formed in his mouth. "It will be all the more pleasurable to wipe it out!" With that, Kuyo sent a high intensity flamethrower at Positive Grimlock, forcing the titan to block using his arms.

"Zack!" Kurumu and Yukari cried.

"Feeling the heat Orion?" Kuyo taunted.

"Grimlock…can…take it." The alien struggled to say as he fought the flames. Despite what he was saying, Positive Grimlock couldn't deny the fact he was in trouble. He could feel the metal on his arms beginning boil. If he couldn't do something quickly, he was going to lose and his friends would probably die. "Grimlock…will not…lose…" He declared as he slowly began to rise to his feet, new determination taking over. "Grimlock still need to apologise to friends..." He said as a panel on his left arm opened to reveal a round device attached to the inside of his arm. "And he shall start by taking you down!" He shouted as the device in his arm activated, creating a small barrier made of solid, glowing orange energy.

"What the hell?!" Kurumu cried in surprise.

"Is that a shield?" Yukari asked in shock.

Using his new shield to block the flames, Positive Grimlock began taking slow steps towards Kuyo. Thinking that he could use his flames to overcome his opponent's protection, Kuyo increased the intensity of his flamethrower. "Why won't you just die!?" The Yoko cried angrily.

"Because Grimlock has people he wish to protect!" The titan cried, running the last few steps and back handed Kuyo with his shield. The fox spirit let out a cry of pain as he was sent rolling several meters across the roof before coming to a stop. After a few moments without Kuyo getting up, Positive Grimlock guessed that the teen had been knocked unconscious and began to walk back towards Kurumu and Yukari, reverting back into his human form in the process. Upon reaching the girls he once again bowed.

"I'm sorry!" Zack cried, still bowing. "I caused this. I'm the one who revealed Christian's true identity to Kuyo. I allowed the power I acquired to consume me but I feel a lot better now. It's like a fog has lifted from inside my brain." He said very quickly.

Kurumu and Yukari looked at each other for a moment before turning to Zack and saying, "It's not us you should be apologising to." Yukari stated.

"That's right. Apologise to Christian when he recovers." Kurumu added.

Zack brought himself back up and was about to reply when there was an explosion of monster energy. Everyone's first reaction was to turn towards Inner Moka but before they could, a pillar of blue flames erupted from behind them.

"You bastards!" Kuyo's voice cried. "You will pay for hurting me! Every last member of your precious club will burn!" Within the spectacular azure flames, the three teens could make out a humanoid figure that was covered from head to toes in white fur with black tattoos on his arms, chest and face. His upper body was that of a humans with the exception of the fox like ears poking out of his head. His hands possessed claws and his lower body was that of a fox. He still possessed his four tails but now they had blue fire spiralling over them. From where they were standing, the three monster teens could feel the intense amount of monster energy that flowed from the figures form.

"Please tell me that's not Kuyo?" Kurumu pleaded, shaking in fear from the amount of energy in the area.

"His monster energy must have transformed him into this form." Yukari theorized.

"It's so powerful…" Zack remarked, amazed by the level of power before him.

Before they could do anything, Kuyo raised his right arm and allowed a blue blaze to grow in the palm of his hand until it was three times the size of himself. "It is time to be rid of you pests!" He cried as a certain boy regained consciousness. "SAY GOODBYE!" He shouted throwing the giant ball of azure fire careening towards the three. When it collided, the impact sent out a giant shockwave that shook the school like an earthquake. A giant plume of smoke rising high above school.

Kuyo looked on with silent glee as the bluey black smoke rose, thinking that he had finally eliminated the threats to his position in the academy. However, as the smoke began to clear, Kuyo noticed something that surprised him.

"Well…" He commented. "This is interesting…" He said with a smile.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_James watched as the golden particles that had been his son began to reform, taking on the shape of a human teen. Once all of the little orbs of light had reassembled, the light faded to reveal Christian, his eyes closed and a content look on his face. That lasted about a second. _

_Christian opened his eyes and looked around as if in a panic, taking in his surroundings. He then saw his father looking at him smiling._

"_Am I dead now?" He asked questioningly, pinching his arm._

"_Quite the opposite actually." James relied with a smile. "It appears that you're recovering." _

"_What!?" Christian gasped. "How!?" _

"_How am I supposed to know?" James replied. "I'm technically a part of you. If you don't know how am I supposed to?" _

"_Fair enough…" Christian conceded. _

"_However, I think that will probably give you a hint." James said pointing upwards._

_Christian looked up expectantly. "There's nothing there. Hey! When did this place turn change colour?" He asked gesturing around the now purple area around them. _

"_Focus!" James shouted. _

"_Right, sorry." Christian replied, snapping his head upwards. "Seriously, what am I looking for?"_

"_Nothing." James stated, making Christian absolutely confused. "Listen." _

_Christian cocked his brow before closing his eyes and listened. At first there was nothing, he was unable to hear anything. However after a few moments something began to come through._

'_Co… ba…me' _

'_Huh?' Christian thought, focusing on the voice he had heard. It sounded strangely familiar. _

'_Come …ack to …' the voice said again. After hearing it twice Christian was quite sure it was female. _

'_Come back to me!' the voice cried once again now clear. Christian instantly recognised the voice._

"_Moka…" He murmured. _

"_Looks like the mean half of her wants you back." James stated teasingly. Christian remained silent although there was the slightest hint of red on his cheeks. Suddenly he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder. Turning he saw the apparition of his father smiling at him. "Go to her. She needs you." _

"_How am I supposed to do that?" Christian asked. "It's not like I can just wake up is it?" _

"_Well you see son, I'm going to take you to a train station where…" James trailed off when noticed Christian was looking at him with a deadpanned expression._

"_You are not going Harry Potter on me." He said simply. "In fact, how do you even know that reference?" _

_James simply pointed to Christian's head referring to the fact he knew everything he did. "Fine, I just thought it would be cool…" He murmured before sulking and rubbing his two index fingers together in a humorous way. _

_Christian sighed. Unfortunately, this was how his father used to act when he was a kid. Especially around his mother. Exasperated, Christian asked, "So how do I get out of here?" _

_Standing up straight, James replied, "You're body is currently still recovering. When it is ready, you will wake up." He answered. _

"_So I just have to wait?" Christian summed up._

"_Yep." James responded, smiling childishly. Suddenly, the older man began to fade away._

"_Hey, where are you going?!" Christian cried in alarm, worried about his 'father'._

"_You're going to survive." James remarked simply as he continued to fade. "You don't need me anymore." _

_Christian was torn. He knew this wasn't his real father but he still didn't want to lose him. "Don't go!" He cried, tears beginning to form. "I don't want to be alone." _

_Once again, James placed his hand on Christian's shoulder and despite the fact he had almost vanished, Christian could still feel the contact._

"_You will never be alone son." He said wisely. "You know that both I and your mother will always be right here." He placed his hand on Christian's left pectoral. "And there is always the memories." _

_Just before he faded, James wrapped his son in a hug, which Christian gladly returned. For a second, Christian was transported to the past when memories of when his parents were alive and how they would spend time together. The picnics, games, birthday parties, a particular Christmas where his dad climbed up the chimney to prove Santa Claus could do it. However that quickly faded as recent memories of his time at Yokai flashed by. Meeting his friends, punching Gin, the hugs in the morning, working on the paper together and his spar with Zack before everything went to hell. Finally the faces of all his friends dashed before his eyes starting with Ben and his family to the people who had touched his life at the academy. The final memory was of the kiss he and Moka had shared during the fight with Ishigami. It may not have been the best moment in his life considering he was being turned to stone, but it definitely made him feel happy. _

_Once the memories had finished, Christian stood confidently on his own. A light appearing above him._

"_Look out Kuyo." He said as he jumped. "Because here I come!"_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The school once again shook as what felt like wrecking ball hit the roof, the students inside were wondering what the hell was going on. The rumour that Christian Hawke was human had spread like wild fire since the head enforcer, Kuyo, had declared it in the hallway that morning.

Earlier that day, it had been confirmed that Christian Hawke was human and that he was to executed that evening. No time had been given but they had been assured it would be that day.

Next thing they knew, smoke was rising into the air from the Security Committee shrine after there had been an explosion and only minutes later the school began shaking as a battle took place on the roof.

Students from every year were now rushing in groups up towards the sounds of battle to find out what was going on. Unfortunately for them, the entrance to the roof had been blocked by some debris on the other side and no one could get through. Of course, no one at the bottom of the stairs knew this, leading to a congestion of students pushing to get to the top in order to get a look at nothing.

Amongst all of this was Ms. Nekonome, doing her best to pass through the crowded stairways. After learning that the members of her Newspaper Club were involved in this debacle, the nekomata teacher was fearing the safety of her students.

"Oh I hope my kids are alright…" She murmured anxiously, her cat ear like hair drooping. Suddenly, the teacher yelped as a sharp pain ran through her body. "OW! Someone's stepping on my tail! Get off of it!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Well…" Kuyo commented as he watched the azure flames of his last attack clear. "This is interesting…"

Once the smoke had cleared and the dust had settled, four figures could be made out. Two of which were in in pain. Kurumu and Yukari were laying on the floor unharmed, eyes wide with alarm as they saw that both Zack and Gin were lying in front of them. The former was once again unconscious, his injuries worse than before. Apparently he had used the last of his strength to push Yukari to safety. Zack on the other hand had managed to get Kurumu out of the way but had been too slow to escape the blaze completely. His left leg was burned badly. The fabric of the trouser leg had completely burned away to reveal blistering skin. Despite this, the boy was still conscious, glaring defiantly at Kuyo, who was merely looking at him mockingly.

"I see that Morioka still had some life in him." Kuyo stated, smirking as he turned his head to look at the once again unconscious werewolf teen. "And it also appears that the traitor got himself hurt protecting his little succubus friend." He said gesturing to Zack who was attempting to get up only to find that it was too painful. "Are you not going to transform Orion?" Kuyo asked, a wide smile plastering his face causing Zack to growl. He had been trying to transform but for some reason it wasn't working. He found that he couldn't concentrate on his forms. Was that what was preventing him from transforming? "Such a shame it had to end this way." Kuyo continued, actually looking slightly disappointed. "I expected so much more."

"Then allow me to satisfy you." A prideful voice spoke filled with spite.

Everyone turned to see Inner Moka standing tall, glaring at Kuyo with a vast amount of malice. To her side was Christian's burned body, which showed neither signs of life nor any evidence that it was healing.

"Moka Akashiya…" Kuyo greeted. "I see your efforts to revive your human pet have proven fruitless." He taunted. "As I said before I have always wanted to test my strength against one of you. And now you are simply handing yourself over to me." Inner Moka remained silent, just eyeing Kuyo. "Well then, come at me. Show me the power of the vampire."

Inner Moka complied instantly, dashing forward and roundhouse kicked Kuyo in the abdomen. Landing back on the floor, Inner Moka quickly delivered a swivel kick directed at Kuyo's left arm which, unfortunately, the teen blocked and knocked her back. However this didn't dissuade the prideful vampire. She began sending a flurry of kicks that Kuyo managed to block with little effort.

Kurumu, Yukari and Zack watched as Inner Moka engaged their foe; however, the succubus's attention was quickly drawn to their still downed friend. "What happened with Christian?!" She called out. "Why hasn't he woken up?!"

"I've done all that I can for him!" Inner Moka called back, dodging underneath a right hook coated in flame.

"Does that mean…?" Kurumu asked fearfully, tears in her eyes as she thought that it meant Christian was already dead. Yukari actually burst into tears, Zack looked away not wanting to show the tears in his own eyes.

"There are drawbacks to doing a blood transfusion!" Inner Moka called back, catching the three's attention. "Sometimes it doesn't work!" She stated bluntly before turning to Kuyo and saying, "So you had better be prepared because if Hawke doesn't make it there won't be anything left to identify you!" She cried with unmeasurable fury, moving at rapid speeds as she kicked Kuyo all over his body in a series of roundhouse, swivel and push kicks sending the Yoko flying back and causing an explosion of dust.

"Moka's so strong…" Yukari sniffed, amazed by Inner Moka's strength.

"No." Zack stated, holding his burned leg. "Something's wrong."

"He's right." Kurumu agreed. "She's normally much stronger than this."

Inner Moka watched as the dust settled, keeping her eyes trained for Kuyo. It was then that she spotted a large ball of blue flame hurtling towards her. Acting quickly, Inner Moka jumped back out of the way just as the flames hit the ground in front of her. Unfortunately Inner Moka was unable to escape unscathed. Like Zack, her leg had been caught in the flames and had been burned but not to the same extent as the Doppelganger teen. From out of the dust, Kuyo stood with his palm stretched out, completely unharmed.

"That's the power of a vampire?" He asked, sounding extremely bored. "I must say I'm very disappointed."

"That's another drawback." Inner Moka said regretfully, speaking only to her friends. "I gave Hawke so much blood that it has sapped my own strength." After saying that, the vampire teen dashed forward again and proceeded to continue kicking Kuyo at ridiculously fast speeds. Unfortunately, too much of her strength had been sapped as she was doing relatively nothing to harm the spirit fox.

"Is this all you've got? Please, this is child's play." Kuyo mocked, blocking another of Moka's kicks. A bead of sweat ran down the side of Inner Moka's head. At this rate there was no chance she would be able to defeat Kuyo. After a few more kicks, Kuyo's eyes widened in realisation. "I see… Whatever you did to try and revive the human has weakened you. As you are a vampire, I'm going to assume you that you gave him your blood." Kuyo taunted as he continued to block his vampire opponent. "Just look at what it has done to you." Kuyo continued before delivering a vicious right hook to the vampire girl's face, causing her to cease her attack and left her on the verge of consciousness. "It made you weak!"

Zack and the others watched in horror as Kuyo began demolishing their friend. "Moka…" Kurumu gasped, her hand covering her mouth.

Kuyo continued his assault by delivering devastating, flame enhanced punches to Moka's stomach, all the while taunting her. "Humans are petty minded creatures." He said as he punched her again in the same area. "They lie, steal and cheat." Another punch to the stomach. "They're selfish and lazy." Yet another punch. "And they betray others without feeling guilty!" He cried delivering an upper cut to Inner Moka's chin sending her falling backwards, not that Kuyo would stop. "And they harm other living creatures without even a second thought!" He shouted before delivering a series of superfast punches that hit Inner Moka all over her body. After one final, powerful blow, Inner Moka was sent skidding halfway across the roof top, coming to a halt right next to Christian's limp body.

Kuyo's tails lit up and began to spin, signifying that the spirit fox was about to use his Fire Wheel. "You have been infected with the vileness that comes from associating with human kind. I shall now cleanse you in the heat of my glorious flames." Kuyo explained as the flames began to burn brighter. "Moka Akashiya, it is time for you and that pathetic human TO DIE!" He shouted as he launched his massive attack at Inner Moka.

As the spinning wheel of flames headed towards Inner Moka, all the vampire could do was reach out and place her hand atop of Christian's. "I'm sorry…Christian…" She whispered regretfully as a tear ran down from her fight eye.

KA-BOOM!

The area Inner Moka and Christian were in was now a massive flaming crater. No human nor monster could ever survive being in the middle of that blaze. Zack and the girls were speechless, they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Inner Moka and Christian, the most powerful members in their group, were dead. There probably wouldn't be anything of them left and if there was it, would be unrecognisable.

"Christian…and Moka too…" Yukari stammered, tears welling up in abundance.

"They can't be…they can't be…" Kurumu denied, not wanting to believe what she had just seen.

Zack remained silent. Tears were streaming down his face. He had failed to protect his friends. He hadn't been able to apologise to Christian and now he never would get the chance. Looking at the flames, Zack said a silent plea, begging for what he had seen to not be true. It was at this point that he noticed something in the fire.

"What the hell is that?" He asked, pointing to something shining within the flames, causing the other girls to look. Sure enough, the flames were reflecting of something within the azure blaze. Even Kuyo, who had been gloating about his victory, looked with curiosity. As the flames finally began to fade, a green crystal dome could been sitting in the centre of crater.

"How did that get there?" Kurumu asked.

Kuyo glared at the dome. The crystals looked extremely familiar and unfortunately that meant one thing.

The dome suddenly began to shake, surprising everyone. It was then that the dome split in two, revealing a seven foot tall, diamond like alien wearing a black, sleeveless uniform with a green stripe running down the centre. Two large green shards stuck out of his back. A green and white belt was around his waist with a very familiar symbol on the centre. It was Diamondhead, in his arms was Inner Moka who currently had her eyes shut. If someone were to look closely, they would notice that the Omnitrix symbol on his belt as well as the silicon alien's eyes were blood red.

Inner Moka opened her eyes slowly and saw her saviour looking down kindly at her. "Christian?" She asked.

"Hawke!" Kuyo spat angrily.

"Miss me?" Diamondhead asked cockily before stamping down on the ground, causing several shards of crystals to shoot off the roof leading towards Kuyo before finally hitting him in the chest and sending the spirit fox flying back across the roof. "I swear that has been used before." Diamondhead muttered in thought.

"Christian?" Inner Moka said again, barely able to believe her eyes.

"It's me Moka." Diamondhead told her, quickly noticing something falling down her face. "Are you crying?" He asked in disbelief.

"Shut up." Inner Moka replied indignantly. "You took your own sweet time waking up." She added before flicking Diamondhead playfully on the head. "Sleepy head." She chuckled.

At the side, the other three teens were celebrating their friend's recovery.

"They're alive!" Kurumu stated happily, hugging Yukari with glee. "They're both really alive!"

"Go Christian! Kick his butt!" Yukari cheered.

Zack was once again silent, too overcome with joy to say anything.

"NOOOOOO!" Kuyo cried from the other end of the roof in outrage. "How can you be alive!? I burned you! No human should be able to survive that!"

"Maybe you're not as powerful as you thought." Diamondhead suggested. "Especially if you can't kill 'one measly human.'"

Kuyo was now shaking with rage. With a frightening yell, Kuyo dashed forward, tails a blaze. "I shall show you just how powerful I am!" He cried.

Sighing in annoyance, Diamondhead placed Inner Moka down on the floor before raising his arm upwards and flicking it to the left. Almost instantly, a large block of green crystal rose from the roof in front of Kuyo before moving and slamming into Kuyo's side as he ran by it. The crystal block had hit the crazed fox demon with enough force that it had sent him rolling across the roof and through what was left of the barrier around it. Once he had broken through, Kuyo fell several metres to the ground with an audible thud. Needless to say, no one felt very sorry for him.

"Well…that was anti-climactic." Zack commented from the side.

Of course no sooner had he said that did a pillar of wicked, azure flames burst into the air, signifying that Kuyo hadn't been affected by the fall. "CHRISTIAN HAWKE!" The demonic voice of Kuyo sounded as he stepped out of the flames and back on to the roof, the wrath of the gods embezzled on his face. "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR IMPUDENCE! FACE ME NOW!"

Diamondhead's currently red eyes narrowed as he began walking towards the enraged enforcer. "Using Diamondhead here will be too easy." He stated, moving one of his hands to the symbol on his belt. "Let's even the odds." He declared as he pressed the symbol, disappearing in a flash of crimson light. Once it had faded, XLR8 stood tall, glaring angrily at the spirit fox. Like Diamondhead, his eyes and the Omnitrix symbol on his chest had turned blood red.

"What are you doing?" Inner Moka demanded, being helped up by Kurumu who had ran over to help. "Diamondhead was your best defence against Kuyo, he won't be affected by his attacks! Why aren't you using him?"

"Because I can't teach Kuyo a lesson in that case." XLR8 replied simply. With those words, the Kineceleran raced into action, travelling at such a high speed that he actually made a sonic boom when he set off. XLR8 hit Kuyo full on, body slamming the teen before he could even move. Before Kuyo fell back, blood trailing from his mouth, XLR8 dashed around him and hit him with his tail making the fox monster fall on to his front. "Is that all you've got Kuyo?" XLR8 asked mockingly. "I thought you were supposed to be the 'embodiment of justice' or something like that."

The flames around Kuyo's tails grew in response to the rise in his rage. "I AM!" He shouted, jumping up from the ground and throwing a ball of flames at XLR8. The Kineceleran in question merely used his speed to dodge to the side.

"Missed me!" He taunted before dodging another ball of flames that Kuyo had launched at him.

At the side lines, the members of the Newspaper Club watched on confused. The way Christian was fighting was very unlike him. "Why is Christian taunting Kuyo?" Yukari asked.

"It's almost as if he wants him angry." Kurumu remarked.

After the Succubus had said that, something clicked in Inner Moka's head. "He does." She remarked, surprising the others. "If Kuyo's angry he's going to use up more of his energy attacking Christian. As XLR8, he will be able to dodge those flames and wait until Kuyo is weak enough to take out quickly."

"That makes sense." Zack admitted, admiring Christian's approach.

"However there is a downside to this." Inner Moka stated, once again catching the others attention. "XLR8 main attribute is speed, he's doesn't have that much physical strength. He relies on charging his opponent and using the momentum he picks up to severely damage them or surprising them with a sneak attack and taking them out straight away. He's already lost the element of surprise and there isn't enough room on the roof to pick up the speed he will need to perform his most powerful attacks." She explained. Having watched Christian in action as his aliens she knew a lot of their strengths and weaknesses. "If Christian wishes to defeat Kuyo using XLR8, he will need to do so using a series of quick strikes to wear him down."

The other three nodded in understanding before returning to watch the fight between the two battling titans. XLR8 appeared to be sticking to the same tactic as before, moving to dodge Kuyo's attacks whilst mocking him as he did so.

"STAND STILL SO THAT I CAN KILL YOU!" Kuyo exclaimed, sending out another flurry of flame. "THERE WON'T EVEN BE DUST WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU!"

"Who knew this is what the fox says?" XLR8 mocked, dodging the attack. On the outside he was acting cool but on the inside he was worried. '_I need to beat this guy before I time out. Maybe Diamondhead was a better idea. Wearing him down like this isn't going to work; not to mention the fact that as long as he's sprouting those flames, I can't get close. If only I could stop him from producing them." _Then it hit him. _'Actually, why can't I?" _After checking that he had enough room and taking a deep breath, XLR8 began running at top speeds around Kuyo in a circle, creating a small tornado as he did so, Kuyo at the centre.

At the side, his four friends were once again confused. "What's he doing?" Kurumu asked, having lost track of the Kineceleran now that he was moving at a high enough speed. As she spoke, the tornado surrounding Kuyo began to rise higher into the air. It was at this point Yukari realised what was going on.

"He's creating an air tunnel!" She exclaimed only to be greeted with the still confused look of her other friends. "By creating an air tunnel, Christian is siphoning out all of the oxygen in that area. Fire needs oxygen to spread. If there's no oxygen…"

"Then Kuyo can't use his powers." Zack and Inner Moka realised at the same time.

"I don't get it…" Kurumu said sadly, making the others sweat drop.

Back with Kuyo, the spirit fox was desperately trying to escape the blue, black and green tornado that currently imprisoned him. Sending out a fire ball in the hopes of hitting the currently speeding XLR8 only to miss completely. He tried firing another, but found this one much smaller than the first. Not only that, but the flames on his body were beginning to decrease as well. Within seconds, the once proud flames that coated his tails had dwindled done to nothing more but mere wisps of azure light. "Wha?" He began before he realised he was struggling to breathe as the air grew thinner by the second. Dropping to his knees, Kuyo grabbed a hold of his throat, gasping for oxygen that wasn't present. Just before he was about to pass out, something slammed into his body, sending Kuyo flying out of the tornado and skidding along the roof to the edge. Now able to breathe, Kuyo gasped at the precious oxygen that he had been deprived of, his flames gradually growing larger now there was something to fuel them.

XLR8 appeared in front of Kuyo, looking down on the fox like teen with dissatisfaction. Still breathing heavily, Kuyo asked. "So this…is how…a human fights? Using cheap tricks to….gain the upper hand…"

"And you don't?" XLR8 countered. "You claim to protect order and keep the peace but I've been in that hell hole you call a shrine. There were people in there who had lost hope, rotting away in the darkness you had left them in. That's not the work of someone who protects order. That's the work of a fascist." He spat. "You're a monster Kuyo, in every sense of the word." Kuyo's facial expression didn't even twitch as he looked up at the Kineceleran. "I mean to teach you a lesson Kuyo, and I don't think I can do that unless we are on equal footing." XLR8 continued, moving to the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. "So for the time being, deal with…" He trailed off as he pressed the symbol, disappearing in another flash of crimson light.

"Swampfire!" The new alien cried once the light had faded. Like the aliens before him, Swampfire's eyes and Omnitrix had changed colour. "Come on Kuyo." The plant like alien said, gesturing for Kuyo to come at him. "It's time for your lesson."

Growling, Kuyo threw himself up and launched both his hands forwards and let out a flamethrower that completely consumed Swampfire.

"CHRISTIAN!" The members of the Newspaper Club cried in fear.

"HA!" Kuyo laughed. "You should have chosen another form Hawke. Don't you know how plants burn?!"

"Let's just say I'm unlike any plant you're ever going to see." The nasally voice of Swampfire said, stepping out of the flames completely unharmed. "I told you." He continued, rearing back his fist. "This is going to be a fair fight!" Swampfire cried as he punched Kuyo square in the face. The blonde teen was forced to take a few steps back due to the force of the blow however he wasn't sent flying. But, he was disoriented. He could feel a warm liquid flowing down his face, rapidly drying and staining his fur from the heat of his renewed flames. It appeared that with his last punch, Swampfire had broken the spirit fox's nose.

"YOU BASTARD!" Kuyo cried, once again enraged. He was upon Swampfire in a flash, punching the plant like being all over his body with flame coated fists. "YOU THINK THIS PATHETIC FORM OF YOURS CAN DEFEAT ME!?" He ranted as he punched Swampfire with enough force to penetrate his body, his fist appearing through his back.

"NO!" Kurumu and Yukari cried in distress, even Inner Moka couldn't help but gasp in shock. Zack found himself unable to tear his eyes away from his impaled friend, if they were that at the minute. He had no idea why, but for some reason he knew that the fight wasn't over.

"How does it feel to die Hawke?" Kuyo asked confidently, positive that he had killed his enemy this time.

"Honestly…" Swampfire said with a smirk, surprising and slightly worrying Kuyo. "I've never felt more alive." Suddenly, the area around Kuyo's arm began to tighten as Swampfire's body regenerated, trapping the monster's arm in Swampfire's body. Kuyo tried retracting his arm no avail. Looking up, Kuyo realised he had made a mistake as now he was right in Swampfire's fighting zone. "My turn." Swampfire declared as he delivered a vicious right hook to Kuyo's face. Swampfire followed up by grabbing a hold of Kuyo's shoulders and thrusting his right knee into Kuyo's gut, causing the spirit fox to cough up blood. Finally, Swampfire jumped and used both his feet to push Kuyo away from him, freeing the enforcers arm and making him fall to the ground. "Had enough yet?" Swampfire asked, walking up to Kuyo and looming over him, his now red eyes piercing through Kuyo.

However the head enforcer was not done. He refused to lose to a human. Now he would take was closest to him. "NEVER!" Kuyo cried, pushing Swampfire back before turning and charging up his tail. "I AM ORDER! I AM THE LAW! AND YOU AND YOUR PUTRID CLUB HAVE BEEN THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE FOR TOO LONG!" Kuyo ranted madly as he looked at the other members of the Newspaper Club blood thirstily. "ALL OF YOU WILL BURN!" He screamed as he launched the largest Wheel of Fire in the direction of Christian's friends.

"NO!" Swampfire cried, to slow to do anything to protect them.

The attack hit full on, causing another giant explosion which uprooted many of roof tiles. Swampfire watched with eyes filled with sorrow as the smoke began to rise. Kuyo began to laugh, finally successful in killing somebody. Once the smoke had cleared, the plant like alien saw that the force of the attack had caused the roof to cave in, ash coated the area around it like a black smear. His friends were nowhere to be seen, probably vaporised by the blast. Swampfire felt his entire world break apart, and the thought of Kuyo being happy right now made him very, very angry.

"KUYO!" He roared, startling the boy in question and making him stop laughing. Turning to his plant like foe, Kuyo was greeted with a green fist slamming him in the face once again, completely wrecking his already broken nose. Kuyo rolled along the ground, covering himself in dust. Once he had come to a stop he looked up to see Swampfire several meters way with his eyes closed, the plant aliens body shaking with unrivalled rage. "You know…" He began in a scary monotone. "For the longest time I've been afraid of using the full abilities of the Omnitrix, afraid of what I could do if I lose control." He moved his hand to the symbol on his chest. "Recently I was told to trust in my power. I am the one in control of my forms, not the other way around." He turned the symbol to the side. "But right now, I don't give a damn about control. I just want to take you out." He said finally, slamming down on the symbol causing four spikes to shoot out of its sides. Automatically, a wave of green energy spread over his body. His green plant like body became brown and wooden. His body increased in volume and his arms became larger. Sapphire pods of goo grew on the tops of his arms and all over his back, encasing his head. The symbol remained blood red and two red eyes could be seen through the goo like pod that covered his face.

"Ultimate Swampfire!" the evolved alien cried, azure wisps beginning to trail out from the palm of his hands.

Kuyo didn't know why, but this new form of Hawke's seemed to be exceptionally powerful. He had no idea what this being was capable of and for some reason that scared him. But now wasn't the time for hesitation. If he took Hawke down now, the last person that could threaten his power at the academy would be gone.

"Impressive form, Hawke." Kuyo praised. "I look forward to seeing what it can do."

Ultimate Swampfire glared at Kuyo before raising his hands and sending am extremely large blast of high intensity blue flame towards Kuyo. Of course, being a spirit fox, Kuyo wasn't worried. There wasn't a fire hot enough that could burn him, the most he had ever felt was the sensation of heat.

However this time was different. The flames had barely reached him before a burning sensation came over him. When the flames did eventually touch him, Kuyo was forced to feel an all new, excruciating experience. Part of his fur burned away and the bits that were left blackened. His now exposed skin blistered as he screamed in pain and agony. When Ultimate Swampfire ceased his attack, Kuyo threw himself to the ground and began rolling along the ground in an attempt to put out the flames that was burning his flesh. "HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" Kuyo demanded, still rolling on the ground.

"My flames are hotter than anything you can imagine." Ultimate Swampfire explained, walking over to Kuyo and picking him up by the neck. "How does it feel to get burned?" He asked, his expression hate filled. Before Kuyo could answer, Ultimate Swampfire threw him across the roof. "You know what, I don't care." The ultimate Methanosian said, going after Kuyo.

Inside the hole that Kuyo had created in the roof, Inner Moka, Kurumu, Yukari, Zack and Gin were slowly regaining consciousness. When Kuyo attacked, Inner Moka had used the little strength she had left to punch into the already weak roof and broke through, saving her friends just before the blast struck.

"What happened?" Yukari asked, rubbing her head before realising her hat was missing. After a quick look around her, she grabbed the article of clothing which had somehow landed on Gin's back.

"Kuyo tried to kill us." Zack said, remembering what happened.

"And I saved you." Inner Moka stated.

Before Kurumu could reply with something snarky, the sound of an explosion rocked above them.

"Christian!" They all cried at once. Acting quickly, Kurumu spread her wings and grabbed Yukari and Zack and flew them up through the hole whilst Inner Moka grabbed Gin and jumped through the hole with him. What they saw shocked them down to their core. A being with an appearance similar to a tree that had blue sacs of goo all over its back was hoisting a burned, blackened and blood stained Kuyo up by his neck, a small blaze in his free hand.

At first no one recognised the form, not even Zack who had actually turned into the form, but then again it could only be one person. "Christian…" Inner Moka murmured.

"What is that thing?" Kurumu asked. "Christian didn't have that when he showed us his forms the other day."

"Christian told me he has fifteen forms." Inner Moka stated. "We have only seen fourteen of them. But somehow I do not think this is the fifteenth."

"What makes you say that?" Gin asked, a little confused.

"Remember what happened in the forest when we first met Yukari?" Inner Moka began to explain. "He evolved the form he called Humungousaur. I believe he has done that now with Swampfire."

"But Christian lost control when he used that form!" Yukari cried, looking at Ultimate Swampfire in fear.

"I'm stopping this." Inner Moka said simply, walking forward before her friends could stop her.

Inner Moka walked up to Ultimate Swampfire, who now had a giant blue blaze in his free hand. "Hawke! Stop this now!"

The vampire's voice seemed to bring the evolved alien out of a trance, the flames on his hand instantly dissipating. "Moka…" He said in disbelief, turning towards the vampire girl. "You're alive…"

"We all are." Inner Moka told him.

"Impossible!?" Kuyo managed to say, angry that he hadn't managed to kill anyone. "I-I killed you…"

"Shut up!" Ultimate Swampfire shouted, punching Kuyo in the face. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to knock him out.

"Hawke!" Inner Moka shouted again, once again catching the alien's attention. "Stop this."

"He deserves it Moka." Ultimate Swampfire said, slightly tightening his grip on Kuyo. "He tried to kill you and me and he would have done it without a second thought."

"Then don't bring yourself to his level." Inner Moka told him. "Be the better man."

Ultimate Swampfire said nothing as he turned back to look at Kuyo. "Do it." The spirit fox spat. "Prove to them all what a human can do."

Ultimate Swampfire face once again hardened, a flame once again appearing in his free hand.

"Hawke!" Inner Moka shouted, only to be ignored.

"Do it." Kuyo said again, closing his eyes, accepting his fate.

"AAAAHHHHH!" Ultimate Swampfire yelled, scaring everyone as he rose up his blazing arm.

"CHRISTIAN!" Inner Moka screamed.

Just before his fist connected, Ultimate Swampfire stopped, his fist directly in front of Kuyo's face. When the spirit fox opened his eyes, he paled after seeing how close he was to death. The evolved alien dropped Kuyo and grabbed his shoulder once again. "I. Never. Would." He said simply. "I. Never. Would." With that, Ultimate Swampfire dropped Kuyo, who fell to his knees in shock before falling forward on to his face.

With that Ultimate Swampfire walked away, no longer caring about Kuyo. Inner Moka cast another look at Kuyo before following her friend. As he walked, Ultimate Swampfire pressed on the symbol on his chest, reverting back into normal Swampfire before pressing the symbol again and transforming back into Christian, the Omnitrix face plate changing from blood red back in to its classic green.

"Christian!" Kurumu and Yukari cried, practically tackling him over once he was close enough, wrapping him in a massive bear hug.

"Hey guys." Christian said soothingly, returning the hug. He was exhausted and knew that he was going to need to sleep after this.

"Good work dude." Gin said, walking over to shake Christian's hand. "You made the News Club proud."

"I didn't do it for the club." Christian stated. "I did it for my friends." He looked over to Zack who was looking a little nervous as he leaned on his good leg, finding it painful to move. "That means you too, Zack." He called out to the teen, making him look up.

"Bro, I-" Zack began before Christian stopped him.

"You don't need to say anything." Christian told him, Kurumu and Yukari releasing him so that he could approach Zack. Raising his fist, Christian waited for Zack to fist bump him. "Let's just say it's both our faults and move on. Yeah?"

Zack looked at Christian's fist before sighing. Raising his fist, both boys fist bumped with the rest of their friends (with the exception of Inner Moka, who was indifferent) smiling at the boys reconciliation. "Yeah."

After that, Christian turned to Inner Moka. "And thank you Moka." He said. "You really saved me back there."

Everyone's eyes widened in surprise. How did Christian know that Inner Moka was the one who had saved him? He had been unconscious throughout the whole ordeal.

Before anyone could comment, they heard a loud angry yell from behind them. "Insolent fools!" Kuyo cried, his monster energy once again flaring. "You think that was enough to stop me?!" The boy was bruised, burnt and bloodied but he still had the will and energy to fight and carry on.

"Does this guy ever go down?" Zack asked, now a little exasperated.

Christian said nothing as he glared at Kuyo. He had, had enough of the teen and it was time he finally ended this fight. Walking to the head of the group, much to everyone's worry, Christian glanced at the Omnitrix. After using it for as long as he had and using the evolution feature, he knew that it would need time to recharge. He needed to buy some time.

"Come on Kuyo, give up." Christian advised, walking out towards the enraged spirit fox. "We've got you outnumbered, you're outclassed. Let's end this now and no one else needs to get hurt."

"You think that I negotiate with criminals!?" Kuyo cried, sending a blast of flame at Christian that missed him by meters. Inner Moka and Kurumu moved to help their friend but the teen held out his hand telling them to stand down.

Slowly, Christian began walking backwards, heading towards the end of the roof. "You know Kuyo, that's your problem." He began, still walking back. Thinking that he was retreating, Kuyo followed him, a large amount of flames charging in his right hand. "You think you're the top dog." Christian continued. "You think that you can just look down on others just because you're stronger than them. You claim you protect the peace, but where were you when Saizou attacked Moka? Where were you when those lizard men attacked Yukari in the forest? The enforcer never made a peep when the swim club attempted to drain the life out of the students of this academy. Did you even launch an investigation when Ishigami kidnapped those girls?" Christian asked passing through the broken railings and approaching the roofs edge. "You are a pathetic excuse for a law officer and it's about time I taught you how powerful the 'little guy' can be."

"Oh yeah!?" Kuyo shouted, raising the arm with the giant flame high into the air. "And what makes you think that you can teach me anything about the law?" He demanded.

"Easy." Christian said with a prideful smirk, hearing the Omnitrix beep signifying it was ready for use. "I'm a Plumber." With that he allowed himself to fall backwards, scaring his friends as they thought he killed himself. Even Kuyo was surprised, he hadn't expected Christian to fall.

Suddenly, an emerald light illuminated the entire area. The News Club knew that this meant that Christian had transformed again. However they were slightly confused. They knew that whenever Christian transformed a flash of green light followed it but it had never been this large or bright before. When the light faded, everyone on the roof was gobsmacked as before them was a giant bipedal humanoid who was easily over a hundred feet tall. It had a large giant fin on top of its head that was red on top and black on the bottom. Its shoulders, feet, chest, and the long blade like fins on its elbows were all red whilst the rest of its body was white with the exception of its neck which was black. He had green eyes and the Omnitrix symbol was presented proudly on his chest.

"Way Big!" The alien cried in a deep booming voice that carried throughout the area. Even the students within the school heard him, causing a battle to get to the nearest window in order to get a look at the giant titan.

"No…" Kurumu began in complete shock.

"Way…" Yukari finished, her jaw dropping in astonishment.

"He can actually turn into something this big!?" Gin cried, his voice turning extremely high pitched and girly.

"I wonder if I can turn into that." Zack said to himself. Suddenly, unbeknownst to anyone else, the Doppelganger teen's eyes turned yellow as he took in Way Big's features. After a few seconds, a silhouette with an appearance similar to the alien in front of him appeared in the centre of his eye. After shaking his head, Zack's eyes returned to normal. _'What the hell was that?' _Zack wondered, having absolutely no idea what had happened.

Inner Moka was silent, then again, who wouldn't be in this situation. The person she had known longest at this academy had just transformed in to a hundred foot being which more than likely had the capabilities to destroy the entire school and them with it. _'Christian Hawke…you're are just full of surprises.' _

Kuyo, who was now in front of the titanic, giant and angry alien, was finally beginning to realise that he couldn't win. However his ego just wouldn't let him surrender. "You think I will go down just because you got taller!" He yelled, throwing fire ball after fire ball up at Way Big, which didn't even make the alien cringe. "I am the law at this academy! I serve order and protect the peace and I will not be defeated by human scum!"

"You know…" Way Big began in a loud booming voice as he reached down and grabbed Kuyo in his right hand. "You are getting extremely repetitive." He said before slamming his hand down in to the ground below, opening his palm just before it hit the ground so Kuyo got the whole front of the attack.

The students inside the school rushed outside in order to get a better look at the spectacle before them. Inner Moka, Kurumu and Yukari all flew down from the roof, desperate to check on their friend who was currently removing his hand to reveal Kuyo stuck in the ground. Zack had been unable to move due to his burned leg and Gin had offered to look after him.

As soon as the other students saw Kuyo, they began murmuring about how they all thought he was undefeatable; of course the topic quickly changed to the giant being looking down on them.

Suddenly, Way Big began to speak. "This is a warning to anyone who will threaten the students of Yokai Academy. I will not stand to allow anybody, human or monster, to suffer at the hands of someone like Kuyo." With that, Way Big pressed the symbol on his chest and blinded everybody as the titan reverted back into Christian. Once the transformation was complete, Christian stood before his fellow peers with a serious look on his face. "Have I made myself clear?!"

For a moment there absolute silence before the sound of clapping came from Christian's left. The teen looked and was surprised to see Inner Moka clapping her hands, closely followed by Kurumu and Yukari, proud smiles on all their faces. Slowly, more and more of the students followed their lead, applauding Christian. Within seconds, all the students were clapping their hands and cheering.

Christian felt a great deal of pride rise within him as he had managed to help these people. Of course, he then felt a great deal of tiredness, exhausted from the continuous fighting and transformations. And so, with a content smile, Christian closed his eyes and began to fall forward, slipping into unconsciousness.

Seeing this, Inner Moka rushed forward and grabbed him, supporting the teen in her arms. "You did well Christian." She whispered. "You deserve some rest."

Kurumu and Yukari quickly rushed over as well, concerned about Christian's condition. "Is he okay?"

"He will be fine." Inner Moka reported. "He just needs some rest."

"Then I shall send him to the grave!" A familiar voice declared, making everyone turn in fear to Kuyo, who somehow still had the strength to stand. The flames on his tail were lit weakly but they would be able to kill none the less. "Students of Yokai Academy, how can you applaud this person? He is the natural enemy of our kind! A Human! He admitted it to me himself!"

That caused some of the students to murmur, now afraid of Christian's true identity. "He only did that under duress!" Inner Moka countered.

"Yeah! If you hadn't threatened to hurt us, Christian would never have said anything!" Kurumu added, glaring at Kuyo.

"Therefore, that makes Christian's confession invalid." Yukari declared.

The students continued to murmur, unsure of what to think. On the one hand, Kuyo was saying Christian was human and that he had even confessed to it. On the other, Moka, Kurumu and Yukari were saying that Christian had only done so to protect his friends.

"Christian Hawke is human!" Kuyo declared once again.

"No human should be able to defeat you Kuyo." Inner Moka retorted. "We have all seen Christian transform. That alone should prove his innocence."

"He uses a human weapon, one that allows him to transform in to those creatures!" Kuyo claimed. "The proof is on his wrist!" He shouted pointed to the Omnitrix.

"That sir, is no weapon." An elderly high pitched voice sounded from behind the students. Everyone turned to see a man in his late sixties wearing a white shirt and black trousers. He had purple eyes and thinning green hair on his left wrist was a sliver watch. He wore a pair of spectacles of his face. Next to him was another man in his late teens with blue hair. He wore a blue shirt and black jeans.

"Who are you!?" Kuyo demanded.

"My name is Patelliday and I've come to set the matter about Christian's identity straight." The elderly man said, moving his hands behind his back. Unseen, Patelliday twisted the dial on the watch and ended the hologram that coated him. Slowly, Patelliday's features became more fish like. Gills grew on his neck and frills appeared on the back of his neck and elbows while an antenna grew out of his head. He was wearing a suit that appeared to have water rushing through it most likely to keep him hydrated. His glasses were present on his face. All together he looked like an older version of Ripjaws. His sudden transformation shocked everyone, especially Inner Moka, Kurumu and Yukari who now knew that they were in the presence of an alien being. "A few years ago, I met that unconscious young man over there." He began, pointing to the sleeping Christian in Inner Moka's arms. "He saved the life of both me and my family. I come from a race of monsters similar to mermaids that is native to America, as are most of Christian's forms. In return for saving me, I allowed him to use his powers to use my species form if he were to ever face and enemy in underwater combat. I can tell you now that Christian Hawke is indeed a monster."

Patelliday's explanation seemed to satisfy the needs of the other students who were now looking at Christian in a much better light. Kuyo on the other hand was outraged. "No!" He yelled. "You lie! Hawke told me he was human, he removed the device that was supposed to kill him if he took it off."

"Do me and everyone at Yokai Academy a favour and SHUT UP!" A deep voice cried from above causing everyone to look up to see a large yellow ball falling rapidly from the roof. Its target: Kuyo. Before Kuyo or anyone else could do anything, the yellow ball landed on Kuyo, crushing the teen and creating a small crater.

For a second, everyone was silent before the ball uncurled itself, revealing it to be a bipedal being with yellow pads on his legs, back, fore arms and shoulders. His upper body, under arms and feet were white. His lower body was black whilst a red stripe led up the middle of his body. The Ultramatrix symbol was in the centre of the red stripe. His eyes were blue with a red scar over his left eye.

Rolling out of the crater, Positive Cannonbolt turned to see Kuyo lying face down, his arms at odd angles. It was quite clear that he had broken a lot of Kuyo's bones. "Do you think he will finally stay down now?" The alien asked as he sat down and reverted back in to Zack.

Seeing this, Patelliday leaned over to his companion and whispered. "Is that the boy you were telling me about?"

"Yes Magister." Rook confirmed.

"I think we need to talk to Christian about this when he wakes up. If he's back to normal he may make a good Plumber."

A groan from Christian caught everyone's attention. "We should get him to the infirmary." Inner Moka said, picking up Christian.

"That would be best." Patelliday agreed. "I need to talk to the headmaster anyway. The more seriously wounded should be seen to straight away."

"Let's get them to the school hospital!" A student cried.

"Kurumu, Yukari, get Zack and Gin to the hospital now." Inner Moka ordered.

"But…" Kurumu began, wanting to go with Christian.

"But nothing." Inner Moka interrupted. "They are our friends and they need help. You are the fastest here and Zack and Gin need your help."

"And what about you." Kurumu asked, not wanting Inner Moka to be alone with Christian.

"I need to retrieve the Rosario from the roof and I also need to talk to Mr…Patelliday." She said, pointing to the fish man.

"Fine…" Kurumu grumbled.

"Alright people let's move!" Patelliday cried getting everyone to start taking care of the injured.

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Christian's eyes opened groggily as he woke up inside the academy infirmary. At first he had no idea how he got there but then remembered taking down Kuyo as Way Big, making a speech about protecting the academy, the students of the academy applauding him and then falling unconscious. He guessed someone had taken him to the infirmary after he passed out.

His suspicion was confirmed when he looked to his right to see a sleeping Outer Moka sitting in a chair whilst using the right side of the bed as a pillow. Apparently Inner Moka had found the Rosario in the destruction zone that was now the roof. Sighing, Christian couldn't help but look at Moka. She had risked so much to keep him safe and she had ended up getting hurt protecting him. He owed her so much, more than he could ever repay.

Summer was just around the corner, she deserved to experience everything it had to offer, including swimming. Unfortunately, as she was a vampire, that made swimming impossible…or did it? Just as a crazy thought came in to his head, he heard, admittedly, a cute yawn come from the vampire girl as she began to wake up.

When her eyes had focused, her expression turned into one of joy. "Christian!" She cried, jumping from her seat and on to the bed, wrapping Christian in a bone crushing hug.

"Moka!" Christian wheezed. "I…need…to…breathe…"

Moka automatically let go of Christian and looked down with embarrassment. "Sorry."

"It's okay, don't worry. I'm just glad that everyone's okay." Suddenly a worried thought popped into his head. "Everyone is okay right?" He asked rapidly, worried about his friend's safety. "Where is everyone, they're not hurt are they?"

"Everyone's fine." Moka replied, holding out her arms to calm Christian. "Kurumu and Yukari took Zack and Gin to the hospital to get their burns treated but that's it. Kuyo was the one who suffered the worst injuries. He got up again after you fell unconscious and began shouting at everyone, trying to convince them you were human. That was when…" For the next few minutes, Moka told Christian everything that had happened after he fell unconscious. Christian was quite surprised to learn that Magister Patelliday was at the school. He didn't know the Plumbers would respond so quickly.

"I spoke to him afterwards." Moka continued. "He said they headed out as soon as Rook had given his report. He also asked me to tell you that your friend Ben is making a full recovery. Apparently they put him in to a…uh…Galvan Medical Capsule, which is helping him heal."

Christian sighed in relief. He was happy to hear that Ben was alright. "That's great to hear." Christian replied, smiling happily. "I was really worried about him."

"Christian, can I ask you something?" Moka asked.

"Of course, Moka." Christian replied, smiling reassuringly. "What do you want to know?"

"On the roof, how did you know I saved you?" She asked. "You were unconscious at the time so it really confused me."

"Well…It's difficult to explain…" He told her. "You see…it's like this." Christian then told Moka everything about how he was in the darkest part of his mind and how he talked to his 'father' which was actually his subconscious and how he gave Christian advice about the ultimate forms and how he was also the one that told him it was Moka who had saved him. "He told me to listen and I heard the voice of your inner self calling out to me, asking me to come back. I figure that whatever she did also gave me better control of Ultimate Swampfire. I felt a lot more control this time than when I used Ultimate Humungousaur."

"She really did that?" Moka asked in surprise. _'Does that mean she cares for Christian the same way I do?'_

"Moka…" Christian said in confusion. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah…I'm good." Moka replied, a little too quickly. "It's just that…well…I was just thinking…"

Christian looked at Moka in confusion before a light bulb went off in his head. "Let me guess, you want some blood? I can imagine you're pretty exhausted after all that fighting." He moved to pull his collar down but then remembered he didn't have one as it had been burned away by Kuyo. So instead he cocked his neck to the side. "Take as much as you need. It's the least I can do after what you did for me."

Moka smiled, touched deeply by Christian's concern for her. He was always there for her, he had practically killed himself protecting her. Not just once but twice if you included being turned to stone by Ishigami. Slowly Moka moved her hands and placed them on Christian's shoulders. From there Moka leaned in and gently bit Christian's neck and drained some of his blood. When she stopped, Moka quickly wiped her mouth before looking Christian deeply in the eyes. Subconsciously, Moka moved closer to Christian, lost in the spur of the moment. Before either of them knew it, Moka had placed her lips atop of Christian's, gently kissing him. Christian had no idea how Moka had gone from sucking his blood to placing her soft lips upon his but he couldn't say he was complaining. When Moka pulled away, the two teens instantly looked away from each other, blushing madly. Christian looked back at Moka and could have sworn he saw an after image of Moka's Inner self._ 'Is it me or did I just see...?' _

"Uh…that was…" Christian began, looking down.

"Unexpected…" Moka finished.

"Does this mean-" Christian started but was cut off by the sound of the infirmary door opening.

Both teens turned to see Kurumu and Yukari standing in the doorway looking extremely happy.

"Christian!" They cried. "You're awake!" With that the two girls jumped at Christian. "I'm so glad you're okay!" They said in unison.

"AH!" Christian cried, the girls messing with a few injuries he gotten during the fight.

"Leave Christian alone!" Moka cried. "He's still recovering!" With that she jumped forward and grabbed Christian by the shoulders before sinking her teeth into Christian's neck.

"MOKA! NOT AGAIN!" Christian cried as he had more of his blood sucked. _'If anything at this academy is going to kill me it will be this!' _He thought before cocking his head slightly to look at the vampire girl currently on his neck. _'But if it means I get to stay with her…it will be worth it.'_

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**And there you go. That's the completion of my first arc. I'm so happy. I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. I'm going to take a two week break to plan the next arc fully and to go over and correct the chapters I've already written as per some advice from one of the reviewers. I would also like to spend some time with my family as now everyone is on holiday and I get to see them. **

**I hope you all understand and the first chapter of the summer arc will be up in a few weeks. **

**I'll see you soon and as always please leave your reviews so I know what went well and what I could do better.**


	14. Chapter 13

**Hey guys! I'm back with start of the summer arc of Alien Watch in a Monster School. This one shouldn't be longer than six chapters and will be split into three parts. I hope you enjoy the chapter and please leave your reviews and thoughts at the end. **

**To the guest who requested a fight between Rath and Kokoa, that will happen during the second series of my story. I plan to do the first series of the manga first.**

**By the way, so far chapter 1-8 have been re-read and revised. I'm going to revise two more chapters after this one and then two more after that until all the chapters up to chapter 12 have been completely corrected. **

**I just want to say that this is still a Christian X Moka story. I'm not giving him a harem. Some of the chapter may give the wrong impression.**

**Enjoy!**

"**..." Speech**

'**...' Quote **

'**Hi' Thought**

"**Learn your place!" Inner Moka through Rosario**

**Feedback=Christian**

**Positive Feedback=Zack**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC, everything else belongs to their own creators. **

**Alien Watch in a Monster School**

**Summer Time Madness **

It had been two weeks since the events regarding the Public School Safety Committee and the Newspaper Club. In that time the school had somehow found a way to return back to normal as if nothing had happened. However there had still been some events going on for the members of the Newspaper Club.

Once Christian had been allowed to leave infirmary he had a talk with Magister Patelliday, who Christian had discovered was waiting to debrief him. It was then that the teen Plumber had learned that the Headmaster of the academy had always known about his enrolment and also knew about Christian's mission. He was also told that the Headmaster had granted Christian and one of his friends the benefit of being allowed to wear casual clothing during school as an apology for almost being killed. It wasn't much of one but Christian couldn't really argue as he never actually got to meet the headmaster.

Patelliday also had a talk with Christian and Zack about the latter's ability to transform into the Omnitrix aliens and upon Christian's recommendation, Zack was taken back to Bellwood so that he could train to use his aliens more effectively in combat. However, before Zack left, Christian decided that he should tell all his friends the truth about his identity and what he was doing at the academy. Therefore, with the help of Patelliday, he told his friends everything. About the Plumbers, the Omnitrix, aliens, his mission…everything, including about his parents. Needless to say, they were very surprised to learn about the existence of aliens and that Christian was a part of an intergalactic police force. Who wouldn't be? However, they now also understood why it was necessary for Christian to lie to them. They were also saddened to learn of his parent's death and gave him their greatest condolences. Once Patelliday had made sure that they would all keep Christian's secret, the Piscciss Volann took his leave, an enthusiastic Zack going with him. But, before they finally left, Patelliday gave Christian once last piece of bad news. It appeared that Kuyo had disappeared from his hospital bedroom. The teen had simply vanished without a trace. As the boy had been too broken to leave on his own, someone had clearly helped him leave the academy, however it was unknown as to who. Christian knew that it was not the last he had seen of Kuyo. When the Yoko returned, he would be ready to face him.

Since then, nothing much had really happened. There had only been two incidents that deemed any mention. The first incident involved a teen called Chopper Rikiishi. He was a member of the school wrestling team who was obsessed with being the toughest student in the school. He targeted Christian when he learned that it was he who had taken down Kuyo. As Kuyo had been on Chopper's 'list' of people to fight, he was angry that his fight had been taken away from him. Therefore, the hulking teen had challenged Christian to a fight to prove who was tougher. After a lot of 'persuasion', Christian finally agreed. Chopper revealed himself to be a mountain troll and began the fight. After about five minutes, Chopped had been defeated by Christian's own wrestling alien, Rath.

The next incident involved Ririko Kagome, the maths teacher. Christian and Moka had discovered her giving less gifted students 'special' tutoring sessions to get them ready for the mid-term tests that decided whether or not a student was allowed to go on summer break. However these sessions involved the students becoming 'math zombies' who were utterly obedient to Ms. Ririko's will. On the way home from a late club meeting, Christian and Moka had heard someone cry out in agony from one of the nearby classrooms. Rushing inside they found Ririko in her monster form, which happened to be a Lamia, quite literally pumping math knowledge into a male students head via a flower like appendage at the end of her tail. Using Feedback, Christian was able to defeat Ms. Ririko and free all who were under her control. As a result, Ms. Ririko was given a two week suspension from teaching and the students who she had brain washed were forced to start studying again from scratch.

After a lot of revision, and a little help from Grey Matter, Christian managed to pass all of his exams and was allowed to go on summer break. This leads us to the current situation.

Christian was currently standing alone at the bus stop where he had first been dropped off when he came to Yokai Academy. He was dressed in casual clothing consisting of a black jacket, a white t-shirt and blue jeans, a black bag was slung over his shoulder. Sighing, he raised up his left wrist and tapped the Omnitrix touch screen. At first nothing happened so the teen tapped on it a few times. "C'mon you stupid thing…" Christian growled before a holographic image showing the time shone just a few centimetres above the Omnitrix screen revealing the time to be quarter to eight in the morning. "Finally." Christian sighed. Ever since the fight with Kuyo, the Omnitrix had been acting strangely. He suspected it had something to do with why the Omnitrix symbol became red during the fight. Every so often it would stop working and refuse to start up again for a few minutes. Christian had tried to report the problem but the Plumber communications network was still down, meaning he was unable to get any help.

Lowering his arm, Christian remembered the reason for why he was standing at the bus stop that early in the morning.

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_**Three days ago**_

"_Great news guys!" Ms. Nekonome cried enthusiastically as she burst into the News Paper club room with an expression of utter excitement, surprising the hard working members inside. "We're going on a trip to the human world!" _

_The reaction of her students was priceless. Kurumu dropped the box she had been holding full of equipment, Yukari looked up with a look of utter shock which caused her to scribble on what she had been writing on, Moka gasped and almost fell off her chair and Christian had snapped the pencil he had been holding. Gin, as always, was asleep and slacking off. _

"_What!?" Christian cried, getting up from his chair. "Why!?" _

"_The Headmaster said that you all deserved a break for your hard services to the school," Ms. Nekonome explained as cheerfully as ever, oblivious to her student's reactions. "We are going to spend the weekend camping on a beach to do some investigative reporting on fads in the human world. And if we happen to acquire any fish there, it will be all the better." The cat like teacher added, her cat like tail suddenly appearing from under her skirt as she said the last part. _

"_Somehow…I don't think the Headmaster came up with the location." Kurumu whispered to the other two girls, making them nod in agreement. _

"_But Ms. Nekonome…Don't the rules state that we're not supposed to go to the human world until we graduate?" Christian asked, also knowing that they could leave if you were taken out like Zack was. _

"_It's fine if you have a responsible teacher with you." The cat like teacher explained. "Probably." _

"_That's not reassuring!"_

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sighing once again, Christian thought about what he and the club were about to do. A trip to the human world. It didn't feel real. He hadn't been there in over four months. Christian had to admit, he felt a little nervous about going back. This was his chance to show his friends that they could live in the human world in peace without worry. He needed to be a good host to make sure that they will want to come back someday after they graduated. Especially-

"Good morning Christian!" A familiar, cheery voice sounded from behind the Plumber, surprising him and bringing the boy out of his thoughts.

"Oh, good morning Mo-kaaaaaa…" Christian trailed off as he turned around to see his vampire friend. To say she looked amazing was an understatement. The pinkette was wearing a stunning, dark red, summer dress that complimented her figure beautifully, white frills were at the bottom of the dress. She had a red, long sleeved, cardigan on over her shoulders which came down to her waist. The sunlight that the school barrier let through lit up Moka's features making her look perfect. She was carrying a small bag that no doubt contained some belongings for the trip. "You-You…You look…" Christian stuttered, trying to find the right words to describe his best friend. "Great…" He finally managed. That wasn't what he wanted to say.

Nevertheless, Moka blushed from the complement. "Thanks, you look good too."

The pair realised that they still had some time to kill so they decided to climb up to the tree that overlooked the bus stop and wait for their friends to show up.

"I have to admit," Moka began. "I'm a little nervous."

"Of going to the human world?" Christian summarised.

Moka nodded. "You know that I lived in the human world when I was younger. I felt so out of place there that it made me hate humans." She explained, quickly realising what she had just said to her, human, best friend. "But I'm completely fine now!" She cried loudly and quickly, flailing her arms around randomly as she tried to reassure her friend she didn't hate him. "I looking forward to this trip a lot more than I'm dreading it! I know it will be fine as long as I'm with you!" Settling down, Moka leaned against Christian, causing the boy to turn a shade darker. "I'm not worried." She stated, looking up at Christian with kind eyes. "I know you'll protect me."

The moment the two teens locked eyes, they felt a force pulling them closer together. Ever since the events with Kuyo, the two friends had become closer, often being found together during their free time. The teens closed their eyes and just as they became lost in the moment and were about to kiss, they heard something that immediately made the teens separate and look away from each other.

"Oh come on! We're going to be late!" Kurumu's loud voice sounded across the area. Upon looking at their approaching friends, Christian took notice that Kurumu had also selected to wear something different. The Succubus was wearing a white, short sleeved shirt that hugged at her curves with a black ribbon around her collar. She was also wearing a short pink skirt. She was carry a travel bag over her shoulder.

"You're the one who wanted my help getting by the teachers!" Yukari's high pitch voice countered. "You should be in summer school!" Yukari had opted to remain in her normal clothes but was also carrying a small bag.

"So what?" Kurumu replied. "I'd rather be with…CHRISTIAN!" The Succubus cried the last part upon seeing the boy of her affections.

"Good morning Kuru-ah!" Christian began before the bluenette ran the last few steps and tackled Christian in one of her smothering hugs.

"I'm so glad we're going on this trip together! I wouldn't have missed it for anything!" Kurumu told him happily.

'_So I heard…' _Christian thought absently, having heard Yukari's declaration. However he quickly found himself on something else; the fact struggling for air as Kurumu once again suffocated him. Luckily, Yukari was quick to come to his rescue.

No sooner did Christian think he was going to suffocate did a golden washtub fall from the sky and hit Kurumu on the head, automatically causing the girl to release the boy. "Get your hands off him!" Yukari cried. "He doesn't need your undereducated touch!"

"You brat!" Kurumu shouted, shooting up instantly to have ago at the young witch whilst Moka tended to the heavily breathing Christian. "You'll pay for that!"

"Can we please get along?!" Moka pleaded. "We're supposed to be going on holiday!"

Any further argument was nullified as the sound of an approaching vehicle reached their ears. Turning, the four saw the school bus heading out of the tunnel.

"Hey guys!" The familiar voice of their club adviser called, sticking her head out of the bus door and waving at them. "Are you ready for the best trip ever?" she called out as she stepped of the bus only to be met with four enthusiastic cheers.

"It's a shame Zack can't be with us." Yukari commented as she got on the bus.

"Yeah, but I'm sure he's having his own fun." Christian remarked, thinking of the training Zack must be going through right now.

"Speaking of members of the club, where's Gin?" Moka asked, looking round expectantly for the werewolf teen before following Yukari on to the bus.

"He didn't get fifty percent on some of his tests so he has to make it up in summer school." Kurumu explained.

"You're one to talk!" Yukari called from inside the bus.

"I managed to get out of my make-up classes." Kurumu quickly said, jumping on to the bus before anyone could comment.

"More like ran out on them." Yukari murmured spitefully.

"Maybe…" Kurumu whispered inaudibly as she sat down, snickering about her victory over the teachers.

Christian sighed before stepping on to the bus. He immediately took notice of the same bus driver who had driven him to the school on the first day of school. "Looking well kid." The blue clad man greeted. "I see you've survived so far, huh?"

"Only with the help of my friends." Christian commented as he walked past him.

"Hey kid!" The Bus Driver called, catching Christian's attention. "You should know that the link between humans and monsters runs deeper than you think. You've only just scratched the surface of the two species relationship."

Before Christian could ask what the strange driver meant, he was pushed into the seat next to Moka by an ecstatic Ms. Nekonome. "No more talking!" The teacher cried joyfully. "It's time for the Newspaper Club to hit the road!"

With those words, the Bus Driver pressed his foot on the accelerator and drove the bus forward into the interdimensional tunnel that connected the Human and Monster worlds.

As the others chatted happily, Christian looked out the window into the darkness of the tunnel as he awaited the chance to gaze upon the world that he had left months before. Moka, seeing that he was looking out of the window, nudged the teen gently in the side. "Are you excited about going to the human world?" She asked curiously.

"A little." Christian responded, returning to looking out the window. "You have to remember that I don't actually live in Japan. This is a new experience for me too."

"Hey Chris!" Kurumu called before Moka could reply. "What is America actually like?" The Succubus asked.

"I'm curious myself." Yukari admitted. "Monsters can't really travel overseas as we don't have passports. It's like a dream for us. I have to admit I'm quite jealous that Zack's in another country right now."

"Really?" Christian asked with a surprised look. _'Perhaps I could organise a trip for everyone to visit Bellwood once the school year finishes?' _He thought.

"Christian?" Yukari asked, once again bringing the teen out of this thoughts. "You zoned out."

"Sorry about that." Christian apologised as he rubbed the back of his head with his left hand. "Well I can tell you now that the USA has a lot more alien sightings than Japan. Very few of the UFO's people see are fake."

For a moment the girls looked stunned before Yukari's brow furrowed in confusion. "Don't you mean most of the UFO's people see are fake?" Yukari inquired, believing she had misheard her friend.

"No." Christian replied simply. "You have no idea how much covering up the Plumber have to do." He told them before adding mentally. _'Especially since Ben is having to do more fighting in the open these days. It's a miracle no one's figured out who he is yet.' _ For the remainder of the trip through the tunnel, Christian told his friends about the differences between America and Japan, only stopping when the bus driver made an announcement.

"We are about to enter the Human world." He told his passengers in his scarily eerie voice.

The four teens rushed to the window closest to them as a light began to shine, signifying the end of the tunnel. Suddenly, there was a bright flash causing them to close their eyes. However, once it had faded, the four were able to see many sights that were familiar to the lone human passenger. The bus had exited the tunnel and had entered a town that was on the Japanese coast. Unlike Yokai Academy, which seemed to be in an endless autumn, it was clearly summer. The sun beamed down from the clear blue skies and lit up the town beautifully. Many people walked along the streets as they went around enjoying the summer weather. There were kids riding on bike or playing in the streets, teenagers hanging with their friends whilst enjoying their holiday and families on trips together. The latter caused the three girls to wonder if they would ever something like that with a family of their own, built with the boy of their affections, who just happened to be staring out at the scene with a nostalgic expression on his features.

'_I'm back.' _Christian thought absently as he continued to smile.

"Oh wow!" Kurumu gasped excitedly, pointing forward towards the something out of the window. "Look guys! It's the beach!"

Sure enough, the bluenette was right. Just at the bottom of the small town, the four teens were able to make out pristine white sand and the beautiful glow of the sun reflecting off the cerulean ocean.

Upon seeing the ocean, Christian remembered the item that was currently in his left jacket pocket and who he intended to give it to. Placing his hand inside his jacket, the teen wrapped his fingers around a small, wrapped, rectangular box that held an item that he had been working on ever since the fiasco with the enforcers. Christian had wanted to give Moka the chance to experience all of what summer had to offer. Therefore, using parts from the tech he had stashed underneath his bed and the brains of a certain alien, Christian had developed something that would allow her to do just that. Now he just needed a way to give it to her.

'_This could either end really well or really badly.' _Christian thought to himself as the bus approached its destination. _'I hope Moka likes it.'_

As the bus finally pulled up to the side of the beach, Ms. Nekonome, who had been at the front of the bus, turned and cried, "Come on gang! It's time for us to relax!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'_How the hell am I supposed to relax!?' _Christian mentally screamed, wearing his black and green trunks. _'I don't even know where the hell to look!'_

For the past ten minutes since they had gotten changed, Christian had been doing his best not to stare at his friends. The girls had chosen quite surprising swimsuits to wear for this trip.

Kurumu had decided to wear a two piece, black bikini with yellow flowers which managed to compliment her body brilliantly. Yukari was wearing a one piece swimsuit with frills at the bottom which was mostly orange but had a white rectangular stripe running down the middle. The girl had also opted to wear her witch's hat with the look. Christian had the hardest time looking at Moka though. The pinkette had decided to wear an exotic, one piece, white swimsuit that hugged to her form and emphasized her curves.

Currently, the four friends were passing an inflatable ball between them whilst their teacher had gone off somewhere, Christian assumed to get some fish.

"Is it nice to be back Christian?" Yukari asked, repeating Moka's question from earlier. "You must have missed being here."

"A little I guess." Christian admitted, passing the ball as it came towards him. "Yokai Academy's a lot more fun though." He added with a smile.

"Now that the enforcers are gone, Yokai Academy is a lot more peaceful." Moka stated as she spiked the ball.

"No kidding." Kurumu commented, using one of her arms to hit the ball upwards, depriving Yukari of her chance to do it.

"Hey!" The witch shouted indignantly, causing the succubus to smile cheekily. "I was going to get that!"

"Sorry." Kurumu replied, although it was clear she didn't mean it. "You're just so small I didn't see you."

"Kurumu…" Christian said warningly as he passed the ball to Moka. Unfortunately he went just went ignored.

"Size isn't everything!" Yukari retorted, missing Moka spiking the ball high in to the air.

"It is when it comes to the important stuff!" Kurumu replied, pointing in Yukari's face as the ball began to descend. "And that's what matters!" She cried, waving her hand in an arc and backhanding the ball, sending it shooting forward at high speeds towards Christian, who was only just able to dodge it, leaving it to fall into the sand. "Besides, what have you ever done?"

"Kurumu…" Christian said.

"All you ever use is those stupid washtubs!" Kurumu continued, not noticing Yukari's sad face.

"Kurumu…" Christian said again, a little more forcefully.

"In battle you're our biggest liability." Kurumu stated.

"Kurumu!" Christian shouted, finally getting the girls attention. "That's enough." He told her angrily. "Apologise to her." He said, gesturing to a sniffing Yukari who had her eyes covered by her hat.

Instantly, Kurumu realised she had gone too far. "Yukari…I'm…I'm so sorry. I didn't mean…." Kurumu trailed off, knowing that simple words wasn't going to improve Yukari's mood.

Bending down, Christian brought himself to Yukari's level, lifting up her hat so that he was looking her in her tear filled eyes. Moka moved next to the guilty Kurumu and gave her a disappointed look.

"Don't listen to her Yukari." Christian told the crying girl softly. "You are crucial to us, not just as a fellow fighter, but as a friend." Yukari rubbed her eyes, listening to what Christian was saying to her. "You have saved my life many times over the past few months, you were even able to stand against Kuyo. That's really impressive." Christian continued. "You have been through so much that no twelve year old should have to go through. It is an honour to know someone so brave and so smart." Yukari was now blushing, touched by Christian's words.

Moka and Kurumu couldn't say they weren't jealous that Yukari was getting praise from Christian but they both knew she needed to hear this. "It's true Yukari." Moka said, gaining the girls attention. "You are so important to us. No one could ever replace you."

Kurumu looked down before adding, "I really didn't mean what I said. You are strong Yukari and you've proved it so many times. You're definitely the smartest person I've ever met. At the moment I don't deserve to be your friend but I promise I'll make it up to you."

Yukari looked at the succubus with an angry expression. "Ice cream…" She muttered.

"Huh?" Kurumu questioned, a little confused.

"You have to buy me ice cream." Yukari stated, pouting and turning away.

Kurumu sweat dropped but gave into her fate. "Okay, does anyone else want any?" She asked, trying to get back into her friends good favour.

"Strawberry please." Moka answered.

"Lemon if it's alright with you." Christian replied, still not looking very happy with the succubus girl. The look on his face told the succubus girl they were going to have words later.

"Coming right up." Kurumu said before turning to Yukari. "And what do you want?"

"Hmph, I'll tell you when we get there." Yukari replied, walking off in the direction of the nearby ice cream store, Kurumu following closely behind, dreading how much money she was going to have left after this.

"I wish those two would get along." Christian sighed when the two had disappeared from sight. "We're friends, we shouldn't fight."

Moka nodded in agreement. "Still…I know Kurumu really does care about Yukari and the vice versa." Christian said nothing as he continued to look in the direction their friends had gone. "They will forget it when they go swimming." Moka added. "I'm sure you will have fun too." Christian was able to detect the slight jealousy in her voice with that last comment. Instantly, the teen felt sorry for Moka. They were at the beach and she couldn't even go swimming. That was something Christian planned to change.

"Hey Moka, can you wait here for a bit." He asked with a smile.

"Uh-yeah…sure" Moka replied, having absolutely no clue why he wanted her to stay there.

"I'll be back in a second." Christian told the girl before quickly heading over to where the club had made camp. Looking through his stuff, Christian found his jacket and pulled out the small, wrapped gift from within his pocket. Smiling to himself, the Plumber teen made his way back to his friend who was currently looking out at the water. "I'm back." Christian told the girl as he approached.

"What were you doing?" Moka asked curiously.

"I was just getting this." Christian replied with a smile, presenting the pinkette with the small wrapped box he had retrieved. "It's for you."

Needless to say, Moka was touched by the fact Christian had decided to give her something. Her whole face had turned a bright red. "Th-thank you." She managed to say, taking the wrapped item from Christian and holding it in her hand. "What is it?"

"Open it and find out." Christian told her, nervous about what her reaction would be.

Slowly, Moka tore the small amount of wrapping paper off of gift, her heart pounding in her chest. Inside the paper was a black box that's sides were roughly all the same size. Opening it, Moka was surprised to see a small, metallic black bracelet that had a white seam running around the side. A blue gem was positioned in the centre of it, glowing brilliantly in the light of the sun. Overall, Moka thought it looked beautiful. "Christian…" Moka began, too stunned to say more. "It's-It's…"

"I know it doesn't look like much." Christian started, interrupting whatever Moka was about to say. "However I wanted to say thank you for everything you've done for me these past few months. I don't believe I've done nearly enough…but I reckon this is a good start." Moka had no idea what to say. Shakily, Moka removed the bracelet from the box and admired it.

"Christian…thank you…" Moka finally managed to say. "It's beautiful."

"You should put it on." Christian suggested, the hint of a smirk on his face. Nodding, Moka strapped the accessory to left her wrist. She couldn't help but feel bad she hadn't gotten anything for Christian. Once the bracelet was in place, the Plumber teen spoke again. "I have one more surprise for you Moka." He told her. This was going to the tricky bit.

Moka's eyes widened. Christian had another surprise for her? "You really don't have to…" Moka began before Christian put up his hands to stop her.

"I know, but I have a feeling you will like this one." He told her. "But first, I need you to close your eyes."

Raising her brow in confusion, Moka did as she was told. Seconds later, the pinkette felt the sensation of two warm objects placed over her eyes. The vampire girl was quickly able to work out that it was Christian covering her eyes in case she tried to look.

Slowly, Christian guided his friend, first going around in a few circles to throw off her sense of direction. Finally, Christian began leading her towards the ocean. As they drew closer to the rolling waves in the surf, Christian slipped his hand down towards Moka's left wrist and the bracelet he had given her. Unnoticed by his vampire friend, the Plumber teen pressed his finger against the gem on the centre of the bracelet.

Suddenly, the gem began to glow blue as an invisible, paper fin, membrane of energy was released by the bracelet that began to spread all over Moka's body. Said vampire had no idea what was happening as she felt something strange pass over her body. She could even feel it passing through her hair! Moka wanted to open her eyes to find out what was going on but Christian's hands were still preventing her from seeing. "Trust me." She heard Christian say. "Everything's fine." Moka was still slightly apprehensive but didn't do anything. She had faith in Christian.

Christian looked down towards the bracelet and waited until the gem's glow had decreased slightly, signifying that it was ready. Preparing for what came next, Christian walked Moka closer to the water. When they were finally right in front of it, the boy leaned in and whispered in Moka's ear. "Try not to freak out."

Moka automatically became worried. Before she could ask anything though, Christian gently pushed her forward into something wet and cold. This sent the girl in to a panic. Her eyes shot open and looked down to see that she was standing ankle deep in the ocean. As her eyes widened with fear, she looked back up to see Christian smiling at her. Moka felt betrayed, her best friend had just pushed her into the substance that could potentially kill her. She felt great sadness as she thought that Christian was trying to hurt her. She felt…fine. Why did she feel fine?

Moka should be feeling electricity coursing through her body but nothing was happening. She didn't feel the purifying effects of the water at all. Moka looked around herself. She was definitely standing in the water, she could feel it running against her feet; she could feel it in between her toes! "How…?" Moka began, unable to say anything else.

"It's the bracelet." Christian's voice caused the girl to look back at the smiling boy with a look of confusion. "I designed it to be able to cover you with a thin force field that goes over every part of your body to protect you from the effect of the water."

Moka rose her wrist to see that the gem on the bracelet was glowing a dull blue light. "You…you built this?" Moka gasped. She had thought Christian had bought it from the campus store.

"Yeah. I used the Plumber tech I have and combined it with Grey Matter brains to make that for you." Christian explained. "It wasn't a big deal. I just wanted you to experience all the joys of summer." Moka was overwhelmed. She couldn't believe Christian would actually do something like this for her. "It works like visking tubing used for osmosis experiments." Christian continued to explain. "It only allows in particles that are big enough to fit through the gaps in it. That's why you can still breathe as the air is passing through the field. You can also feel the water against you but when the force field deactivates you will be as dry as a bone."

"That's amazing…" Moka remarked, looking at the small device on her arm in awe.

"Yep." The Plumber teen agreed. "Unfortunately it is still not perfect. At the moment you can stay in the water for about one hour. You then have to wait forty five minutes for it to recharge before you can go in the water again. The gem will begin flashing when you have five minutes left so you will know when you need to start getting out." Moka listened intently as Christian explained the operations of her new device. "The field also won't last during extremely strenuous activities like fighting so you can't use it in battle. Swimming is fine though." Moka nodded her head in understanding, wriggling her toes as the water from the ocean passed over them. Christian stepped towards Moka into the water and pointed towards the bracelet. "To activate or deactivate the force field, just press down on the gem. If you deactivate the force field before the timer is up it will take a few minutes to recharge. Hopefully I will be able to upgrade the bracelet later to give you a shorter recharge time. I doubt you will want to be swimming any longer than an hour."

Moka was over the brim with happiness. She just couldn't believe Christian had gone through all the trouble to give her something that enabled her to do something she had never been able to before. The pinkette rushed forward and wrapped Christian in a tight hug. "Thank you!" She cried. "Thank you so much!"

Christian, who had been surprised and slightly embarrassed at first, quickly came to his senses and returned the hug. "Anytime." He replied. The two teens retreated slightly so they were looking each other in the eyes. Once again the two felt a force of attraction between the two of them. They became lost as the teens began to come closer together, closing their eyes as they did so. Just as their lips were about to touch, they heard the sound of three things plop in the water beside them.

Slowly turning to Moka's right, they found Kurumu and Yukari bug eyed with shocked expressions emblazed on their faces. Yukari was holding an empty ice cream cone and had her tongue out as if she was about to lick something. Looking down they would have seem three scoops of different coloured ice cream floating in the water. Kurumu had an expression similar except her mouth was open as she gawked at the pair in front of them whilst holding a tray that contained three ice cream cones of different colours. However neither girl, much to duos relief, was actually focused on Christian and Moka's faces. Instead, they were looking at where they were standing. More specifically, where Moka was standing.

"Wha-How-She…" They stuttered incoherently as they tried to figure out how Moka was able to be in contact with the water. "WHAT!?" The both finally cried, gaining the looks of anyone who happened to be close to them.

So they didn't draw any more attention to themselves, Christian and Moka quickly explained to the girls about Moka's new bracelet and what it did. Needless to say, the Succubus and Witch were impressed to learn that Christian had found a way for Moka to swim and were happy for their friend that she was now able to something she had never been able to do before. However, upon learning that it was Christian who had made the gift, there was a new problem.

"How come you didn't make me anything?!" Kurumu pouted as she leaned towards Christian, giving him the biggest, saddest eyes he had ever seen.

"Well…you don't have deadly weakness to water." Christian reasoned, now a little uncomfortable.

"You could have given me something regardless." Kurumu countered.

Yukari didn't say anything. She was admiring the craftsmanship of Moka's bracelet. "This is really impressive tech. I can't believe you were able to make something like this, Chris."

"I wouldn't have been able to if it weren't for Grey Matter." Christian admitted modestly, turning away from the still ranting Kurumu. "Without the Galvan mind, this wouldn't be possible." Scratching the side of his head he continued. "I just figured that they deserved to have a swim and experience things everyone can."

This caused all the girls to look at him in a confused manner. "They?" Yukari inquired.

"Yeah. I thought that the Inner Moka deserved to be able to swim too if she was ever unsealed for a bit." Christian admitted nervously. His statement just served to make Moka feel more touched, Yukari slightly more impressed and Kurumu even more upset.

"You even made something for her!?" She cried, dropping the remaining ice creams as she began shaking Christian to and fro. "Now you are going to have to make it up to me!"

"O-kay-Kur-u-mu-just-ple-ase-sto-op-sha-king-me!" Christian cried desperately as the bluenette continued to shake him back and forth. Once Kurumu finally complied, Christian shook his head to try and get out of the daze his friend had put him in. "Well, how about we go swimming then?" He asked, getting enthusiastic reactions from two of the girls and a nervous one from the other.

"Um…" Moka began, wriggling her feet in to the soft floor before she spoke. "I…don't know how to swim…"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Christian sighed as he and the girls returned to their tents for towels, Moka of course didn't need one thanks to her new toy but she followed her friends regardless. After she had told her friends she couldn't swim, Christian had slapped himself for not thinking about that. Of course Moka wouldn't know how to swim. She had never been able to go swimming before. How could he have been so stupid?

Knowing that she didn't have enough time to teach Moka the basics straight away, the four decided just to play some games for the remaining time she had left. Moka was a nervous about going further in to the water at first but thanks to the bracelet she was fine. Christian had promised to teach her to swim when they returned to Yokai Academy. While Moka and Christian passed the volleyball between the two of them, Kurumu and Yukari somehow managed to get into a water war and began splashing each other. Eventually, the gem on Moka's bracelet began flash signifying it was time to get out.

Once the three who needed to dry off had done so, the group decided just to lay in the sand and look at the clouds as they passed by. However, when the four looked up, they took notice of a golden glow coming from the top of the cliff that overlooked the beach.

Wanting to investigate, the teens put on their coats/jacket and began looking for a way to safely scale the cliff face. Eventually Yukari was able to find a path that led directly to the top. As they approached, the club mates tried to guess what was making the glow that they had seen. Upon finally coming to the top, the four were greeted with quite a spectacular sight.

As far as the eye could see were spectacular golden sunflowers that swayed in the wind that carried through the area. Due to the vast amount of flowers, there was an extremely pleasant smell in the air that only added to the beauty of the field.

"It's beautiful…" Moka finally managed to say in absolute awe. The others nodded in complete agreement. Yukari didn't know why but she felt strangely at ease in this area. It was as if none of the dangers of the world could touch her.

The teens walked in to the field, admiring the beauty of the flowers as they passed them. They thought they were alone in the field, however, after a few minutes they heard the voices of some people who happened to be passing by. The teens quickly ducked for cover, they didn't know if the field was private property and knew that it would be bad if they were caught there.

"Aw man…" A male voice complained. "I guess we got lost. Beautiful sunflowers though."

"Oh no…" A female voice spoke. The four hiding teens took note of the woman's worried tone. "We have to get out of here."

"What's wrong? You scared or something?" The male voice asked.

"You don't know? Lots of people have gone missing on this hill." The woman told her companion, making both him and the hiding teens raise their brows. "They say the abductions were caused by a witch angry about the construction work going on."

That caused Yukari to gasp which prompted Christian to quickly place a hand over her mouth.

Unfortunately, the human pair had heard her. The woman eyes widened in fright before grabbing her companions hand and dragging him away from the field. "C'mon!" She cried frightened. "We need to get away!"

"How do you know so much about this place?" The man asked as he was dragged.

"Everyone around here knows." Was the woman's only reply before they left the teens hearing range.

Once they were finally sure the human pair had left, the four friends came back out into the open, each had a thoughtful expression on their face.

Christian and Moka looked worryingly at Yukari who appeared to be slightly nervous as she looked around. It was almost as if she was expecting the witch the woman had mentioned to jump out at them.

Normally, Kurumu would have used this chance to tease Yukari about how her kind were kidnapping humans but considering that Yukari and Christian were both still annoyed with her for the comments she had made earlier so the Succubus decided that now wasn't the right time.

Yukari had no idea what to think. Could there actually be another witch on this hill? Was she actually kidnapping humans who found their way on to the hill?

"Are you okay, Yukari?"

The young witch was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of Moka's voice. Yukari turned to find that the pinkette was looking down at her with worried smile. Not wanting to be a burden, the girl quickly nodded her head. "Yep! You don't need to worry about me."

"Are you sure?" Christian asked, walking to her other side.

"I'm fine." Yukari replied, waving of the concern of her friends. "I'm sure that the story about a witch abducting people is just a silly rumour made up by some stupid humans." Smiling, Yukari pulled out her wand practically from thin air and gave it a wave. Suddenly a golden washtub fell from the sky and landed on Kurumu's head, causing the teen to fall to the ground. "I'm fine, see!"

Moka and Christian smiled nervously, still not completely convinced. Kurumu on the other hand was quite angry. "What was that for you brat!" She shouted, you could practically see angry fire burning in the girl's eyes.

"Just showing that no one has to worry about me." Yukari countered.

"What does hitting me have to do with you being fine!?" Kurumu demanded, getting in Yukari's face.

"I normally do this when I'm okay." Yukari replied mischievously, once again waving her wand and making a wash tub fall on Kurumu's head, further aggravating the bluenette.

Fortunately, before Kurumu could do anything, Christian stepped between the two. "C'mon guys, we're on holiday. Can we just get along?"

"But she hit me with a wash tub!" Kurumu whined. "Twice!"

"Then you're even for what you said earlier." The Plumber teen stated sternly, making Kurumu feel a little bit smaller having been reminded of her actions. However, Christian then turned to Yukari. "That being said, you shouldn't be using magic in the human world Yukari. What would happen if someone saw you?"

"Sorry…" Yukari said honestly, bowing her head slightly.

"It's alright. There was no harm done." Christian told her, ignoring Kurumu's indignant expression as she pointed to the small bruise on her head. "How about we head back to the campsite and get something to eat. I don't know about you guys but I'm starving."

The suggestion was met with enthusiastic reactions from the girls. Therefore the four departed from the hill and made their way back down to the beach. However, as soon as they left, a figure stepped out of the sunflower field where they had been concealed the entire time. The figure was female, she had long dark hair that came down just past her shoulders but had two pig tails at the sides. She wore a very gothic outfit consisting a dark, sleeveless top and a long, frilly, red dress. In her hands was a long, brown wand that's end was circular with a purple gem suspended in the middle by several poles. The woman's red eyes narrowed as she looked in the direction she had seen the people leave. A small smile appeared on her as she retreated back in the sunflowers.

The woman walked for several minutes until she came to a large house that stood in the centre of the field. It was old and not very inviting, it also looked pretty run down. Sickly, green vines stretched out from the house in to the field. Upon entering it, the woman made her way through dark, vine covered corridors to a room that's door was surrounded by mould and the majority of the vines were spread around the door frame.

Steeling herself, the woman opened the door and took in the familiar surroundings. The room was filled with darkness except the lone ray of light that had been allowed in that hit the floor, showing it to be a dusty grey. The only thing visible was the shape of a rocking chair just on the edge of the light. A hunched figure sat in the chair, casually rocking back and forth.

The woman moved in to the light and dropped to one knee. "Your ladyship." The woman greeted, keeping her head down. "There has been a development."

"Speak, Ruby…" The old, gravelly voice of a woman sounded.

"A girl has come to the hill, a witch. She's young but I sense she holds great power." The woman, now identified as Ruby, reported. "However she came with three others who I believe to be humans."

"What an interesting development." The woman in the chair replied, never looking back to the younger witch. "We must recruit her for our cause Ruby. We will need every ally we can get in order to protect our land and mete out punishment to the vile humans."

"And if her companions try to stop me?" Ruby asked.

"Eradicate them."

"Very well, your Ladyship." Ruby replied as she got up and bowed. "If her lady demands it, then it shall be done." With those words, Ruby turned on her heel and left the room, seemingly leaving the older witch alone.

After a few moments of silence, the old woman spoke out into the darkness of the room. "It will soon be ready. When it is, the human streets will be red with blood with you and I on the front lines." She said as another figure, shrouded by the darkness of the room stepped forward. "And then, not even this boy that you have told me about will even be able to stop us."

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When the Newspaper club members had finally returned to their campsite, they found Ms. Nekonome waiting for them. The cat like teacher had apparently been worried when she returned to find her students missing and had been about to call someone when they returned. Who a Nekomata teacher would call when her monster students had gone missing Christian would never know. It's not like she could go to the human police when there was the danger of them discovering their true identities.

Once the teacher had given them an ear full about not running off, ironic as she had ran off on them to get fish, the five decided to get changed back into the clothing they had brought and make some dinner. Of course they were pretty much forced to have fish as Ms. Nekonome, who believed that they should have seafood as they were camping by the sea. Everyone knew she just wanted the fish. Regardless, as night began to fall, the club members sat around a little fire they had made and ate their dinner in relative peace. Kurumu and Yukari were still bickering about the events that had transpired earlier.

Of course, this just meant that Moka and Christian got to chat whilst eating. Eventually though, once everyone had finished with their meal, Ms. Nekonome went to take a cat nap in her tent and left the teens to their own devices. This gave Christian his chance to do the thing he had been meaning to ever since that morning.

Walking over to his bluenette friend, who had been putting out the fire per instruction, he whispered in her ear, "Can I talk to you for a minute…alone?"

Hearing that, Kurumu became very excited. Christian wanted to talk to her, alone, on a beautiful star lit night. Had his feelings for her finally awaken? Had he chosen her over Moka? Excitedly, Kurumu jumped up and practically dragged Christian away from the camp despite the boy's protests. However the pair's departure did not go unnoticed as their caped friend saw them skulking away.

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Christian took Kurumu to a fallen tree trunk that acted as a bench thirty metres away from their campsite. By the time they got there, Kurumu was bursting with anticipation. She was fully expecting this to be a magical moment where two people would admit their love for each other. Of course that fantasy would be shattered by Christian's next sentence.

"We need to talk about Yukari." Christian said once he was sure they were alone.

Kurumu couldn't help but feel extremely disappointed by that. She knew that this talk was coming but why did it have to be now of all times? She wanted to protest but the serious look in Christian's eyes told her that he wasn't going to let this slide. "Okay…" She submitted.

"I want you two to stop fighting." Christian stated, getting straight to the point. "I'm going to say the same thing to Yukari later but I felt I needed to talk to you first." He gestured for the bluenette to sit down on the fallen tree and only continued when she had. "I know that you and Yukari provoke each other but you are older than her and, arguably, more mature. You shouldn't be encouraging her. You're friends and you shouldn't be trying to hurt each other."

"But she-" Kurumu tried to say.

"I know that she starts it sometimes, but so do you." Christian interrupted. "Be the better person and end it before it starts." Kurumu was now looking at the ground guiltily, knowing Christian was right.

"You're right…" Kurumu admitted. "I know that I should treat her better, it's just so hard. She so mature and it's frustrating since I…I tend to act like a kid. Not to mention how clever she is…I just feel a little insignificant when it comes to her. I take what I can as it the only thing I can beat her at."

"Kurumu…" The girl in question looked up to see Christian looking her directly in the eyes. "You shouldn't feel that way. You and Yukari are different in many ways but it is those differences that defines who you are. Sure Yukari has traits you don't have, but you have traits she doesn't. You're kind, cute, you think of your friends and those around you and you commit to anything you do. Do you know how many people would kill to have a friend like you?" He asked, making Kurumu blush about the fact he called her 'cute'. When Kurumu remained silent, Christian continued. "Besides, you and Yukari are about as childish as each other. You both act stupidly sometimes but there are times you act like adults. You guys are more alike than you think or would like to admit."

Unbeknownst to Kurumu and Christian, Yukari was listening in a few meters away, hiding behind some large rocks. She was using her magic in order hear exactly what they were saying. Like Kurumu, Yukari was touched by her friend's words. However she did wish Christian would say some more things about her.

"What do you think about Yukari?" Kurumu asked, as if reading the young witches mind. The girl's interest piqued as her eyes widened in anticipation. This was her chance to find out how Christian truly felt about her.

"Yukari…is quite literally the definition of brilliant." Christian replied honestly. "She's one of the smartest person I know and it's amazing that she was able to skip so many grades. Her magic is useful and effective when it comes to things like battle and everyday things. But she tries too hard to impress. She just needs to be herself, she has nothing to prove." Like Kurumu, Yukari was moved by Christian's words. It would have been perfect for her if Christian hadn't continued. "Yukari means a lot to me. She's like the little sister I never had."

It was at that point anything else Christian was about to say was drowned out as the words he had just said replayed themselves through Yukari's mind on an endless loop. _"She's like the little sister I never had._ _She's like the little sister I never had._ _She's like the little sister I never had." _The words didn't stop and every time they replayed it felt like someone had just kicked her. Christian didn't see her as anything more than a little sister? He didn't view her as a candidate for his affections at all? Her mind acted on auto pilot and she found herself stumbling away from her hiding spot and heading towards the place she currently felt was safest, which just happened to be the sunflower field they had discovered earlier that day.

Yukari climbed the path to the top slowly, her mind blank as she continued to replay Christian's words in her head. _"She's like the little sister I never had." _Yukari came to a halt when she saw the yellow glow of the sunflowers which continued to look beautiful despite the fact night had descended. After a few minutes of remaining motionless, Yukari dropped to her knees, finally allowing tears to flow.

The young witch was heartbroken and at this point it didn't seem like it was ever going to be fixed. So, alone and depressed, Yukari stared out across the field with the weight of the world on her shoulders. "What do I do?" Yukari asked herself, tears rolling down her face. "What do I do?"

"Well, you could try talking to me." A feminine voice said coming from her right, completely shocking Yukari as she whirled around to find no one. "I'm up here." The voice said again, making Yukari look up into a nearby tree that overlooked the field. Looking down at her with a pleasant smile was a beautiful, gothic dressed girl with red eyes and dark hair. Seeing that Yukari was looking at her with apprehension, the woman said soothingly, "Do not worry little witch, I mean you no harm." The woman then jumped down from the tree, landing gracefully a few feet away from Yukari. "My name is Ruby." The woman introduced once she was upright. "And I'm a witch who live atop of this hill."

Yukari's eyes widened in shock. "Y-you're…a witch."

"I am." Ruby replied, still smiling calmly. "May I ask your name?"

Yukari looked at Ruby suspiciously. As she had said, Yukari couldn't sense any ill intentions from the person in front of her but that didn't mean she could trust her. However she felt the same connection with this person that she had when she had stepped foot on the hill that afternoon. For some reason, Yukari felt that Ruby was trustworthy. "I'm Yukari." The girl replied.

"Yukari…" Ruby tried out. "That's a lovely name."

"Th-thank you." Yukari replied, slightly embarrassed.

"Yukari…can I ask you something?" The older witch requested, causing the younger one to nod.

"If you want." She replied, somewhat shakily.

"I was just wondering…If you would like to be my friend."

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Kurumu and Christian were currently on their way back to the campsite. After their chat the two had decided to ask each other about what it had been like growing up in their respective worlds. Of course Kurumu had been rather sad when she heard about his lonely childhood but Christian had been rather interested in Kurumu's. Unlike Moka, Kurumu had been home schooled throughout her childhood and had been taught to always be fearful of humans. This information was useful as it meant that Christian now knew an area he would have to tackle if he wanted to achieve peaceful coexistence.

However, as they got closer to their camp, the pair heard the shouts of a worried Moka calling out for them. Oddly, they noticed she was also calling out for Yukari. Automatically, the pair hurried back to find an erratic Moka looking around.

"Christian! Kurumu!" She cried happily upon seeing her friends, running over to them. "Where have you guys been!?" She demanded. "You've been gone for ages!"

"Sorry, Moka." Christian replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was just talking to Kurumu about Yukari and the way they treat each other." Christian then looked around. "Speaking of which, where is Yukari?"

"She wasn't with you?" Moka asked worryingly.

"No. We thought we left her with you." Kurumu stated.

"Does that mean she ran off?" Moka asked in shock. She couldn't believe Yukari would do something like that.

"Let's split up and look for her." Christian stated. "Moka, Kurumu, you guys look down the beach. She may have just gone for a stroll. I'm going to see if I can use Blitzwolfer to track her down."

The girls nodded and automatically began running down the beach, calling Yukari's name. Once they were gone, Christian raised the Omnitrix and tried to activate it. However, when he touched the face plate a small bolt of green electricity sparked and gave Christian a small shock. "AH!" He cried, quickly withdrawing his hand and shaking it. "What the hell?" He tried activating it again with more successful results as the holo wheel appeared. _'What was that about?' _He wondered as he selected the icon he wanted and slammed down on the core, transforming into green clothed alien werewolf that was Blitzwolfer. Automatically he pressed his nose to the sand and began trying to catch the scent of his witch friend.

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Yukari and Ruby sat on the edge of a small ledge that overlooked the sunflower field. The two witches had been silent for quite some time.

"Humans are the enemy." Ruby said finally, causing Yukari to listen to the older girl who was simply looking out at the flowers in front of her. "I've spent my entire life suffering by their cruel and selfish hands. They are nothing more than pitiful insects!" She cried with a great amount of anger and distaste. "They are good for nothing! All they do is worthlessly expand their territory and destroy all nature around them! Just look at their cities! We witches listen to the voices of the wind and talk with the spirits. We make the power of nature our own. In cities, nature is destroyed and the spirits are scattered. It is disturbing to witches such as ourselves. Not only will we never understand each other, but there isn't even a reason to try." Ruby then turned to the younger girl with pleading eyes. "Humans are nothing more than despicable creatures who wish to destroy this beautiful knoll covered with blooming sunflowers. Yukari…We need your help and your powers to aid us in our battle to defend our world. Will you join us?"

Yukari didn't know what to say. Ruby wanted her to help kill humans. But…Christian was a human. Did that mean she would have to kill him? _'She's like a little sister to me.' _Yukari found herself stuck between a rock and a hard place. What was she going to do?

Thankfully, a bright green flash from behind caught the girl's attention. To Ruby, it meant that a possible enemy had appeared. To Yukari, it meant a lot of heartache. Both girls turned to see Christian standing before them, a look of relief on his face.

"There you are Yukari." He said, looking directly at the young witch, ignoring the look of disgust on Ruby's face. "Me and the girls were really worried about you. They're currently looking for you on the beach."

"I'm sorry." Yukari said sadly, feeling bad that she had made her friends worry. She hadn't thought about them. Moka and Kurumu must be worried sick.

"Who's your friend Yukari?" Christian asked, looking strangely at the seething Ruby.

"Oh right!" Yukari cried, realising Christian didn't know Ruby. "This is-" Whatever Yukari was going to say was cut off when Ruby thrust her wand towards Christian with a look of fury upon her face, the gem in her wand glowing maliciously.

"So you still come and try to defile our hill, human scum!" Ruby cried. Suddenly, three shoots shot out of the ground that rose a fair amount into the air before they began to change into large, green, plant like monsters that were lifted high above the ground by a single vine. They each had red bulb like sacs hanging like potbellies and above this sac was a mouth filled with sharp, maniacal teeth that bared a resemblance to that of a Venus flytrap, each one growling hungrily at the boy in front of them. "Destroy the human!" Ruby exclaimed, pointing her wand directly at Christian. Automatically, the man eating monsters lunged forward teeth bared. Christian however was not worried.

Acting quickly he rose his left wrist and tried to activate the Omnitrix. However, much to his horror, it didn't activate. "NORMAL OMNITRIX FUNCTIONS HAVE CEASED OPERATION." The automated voice of the Omnitrix stated. "OMNITRIX IS CURRENTLY INSTALLING UPDATES FROM GALVAN PRIME."

"No! Not n-AHH!" The Omnitrix wielder cried as one of the creatures bit in to his arm.

"Ruby stop this!" Yukari cried desperately. "Leave him alone!"

"Stay out of this Yukari!" Ruby exclaimed, not taking her eyes off Christian. "Get out of the way!"

Yukari took a step back in fear. She didn't know what to do.

"Run Yukari!" The sound of Christian's voice made Yukari's voice snap round to him. To her complete shock, Christian was fighting off the plant like monsters using his hands to keep them at bay by punching them when they came close. The Omnitrix may not be working but that didn't mean Christian didn't know how to defend himself. He hadn't put up with years of strict training to be eaten by some Florauna wannabe. That didn't mean it didn't hurt though. These things had bitten him several times now and there was blood seeping from his wounds. "Get to the others, tell them what's going on! I'll be fine!"

"But…" Yukari started, only to be interrupted again.

"Go!" Christian cried again, rolling out of the way of one of the creatures as it lunged at him. "Now!"

"Why aren't you using the Omnitrix?" Yukari asked, confused as to why Christian wasn't defending himself properly.

"It's not working!" Was Christian's reply as he jumped over another one of the creatures. "We need the others! Go and get them!"

Yukari was shaking in fear. She didn't want to leave Christian on his own. If the Omnitrix wasn't working then it was highly likely her friend would die long before she was able to come back with help. But Yukari didn't know what to do. She didn't believe she was strong enough to do this alone.

"_What have you ever done?"_ The words Kurumu had spoken earlier flashed through her mind. _"All you ever do is use those stupid washtubs! In battle you're are biggest liability." _As the words replayed in her head, Yukari found herself becoming more determined.

"I'll show her…" She said quietly, pulling out her wand and raising it into the air. "I can fight too!" She cried as her wand began to glow brightly, bringing everyone's attention to the girl.

"Yukari, what are you doing!" Ruby questioned, covering her face from the bright light.

Suddenly, Yukari's vast amount of tarot cards began to fly out of a small pouch attached to her side, small pairs of luminescent wings attached at their sides. With a wave of her wand, Yukari sent the cards flying at rapid speeds towards the plant monsters surrounding Christian. The cards proceeded to rip the monsters to ribbons, leaving chlorophyll like blood all over the ground.

Seeing that his adversaries were down for the count, Christian collapsed to one knee, too tired to even stand. "Christian!" Yukari called, running over to her friend's side. "Are you okay?"

"I'm good…" Christian managed to get out, placing a hand over his bloodied arm. "Just admiring your handiwork. That was amazing Yukari." He complimented.

Yukari however was still upset and proceeded to speak very quickly as she let out her feelings. "I'm sorry I ran off. It's just that I heard you telling Kurumu how I was like a sister to you and it made me sad as I wanted you to see me as more than that."

Christian was honestly quite shocked. He hadn't expected to hear that. Slowly and a little uncertainly, he pulled the hurting girl into a gentle hug "Yukari…I'm sorry you feel that way. I do care deeply about you, but I see you as more of a little sister than anything else." Hearing that, Yukari wanted to cry. It was harsher when being said to her directly. "But Yukari," Christian continued. "That's not a bad thing. Do you have any idea how important that makes you to me?" Yukari was now confused, what in the world did he mean? "I told you my parents died. They were the only family I had. When they died, I was all alone, I had no one left. But I consider you a sister. That makes you family and one of the closest people to me." Yukari was touched. She hadn't thought of it that way at all. "I may not love you the way you want me to and I'm sorry about that, but I will always be there for you whenever you need me." Small tears were beginning to form in Yukari's eyes as she returned the hug. Maybe...just maybe she could accept being the little sister, especially if it meant Christian wouldn't be so alone anymore.

Unfortunately the heart-warming scene was broken by the sound of more plant monsters shooting out of the ground. The pair turned to find about a dozen of the monsters from before growling at them angrily. Ruby, who was unable to comprehend what she had been seeing, was now summoning out more creatures in order to end the fight quickly. "How!?" She demanded. "How can the bond between a witch and a filthy human be more powerful than that between two sister witches!?" With a wave of her wand, Ruby sent her forced towards the pair. "Kill the human but spare the girl!" Ruby ordered. "She may yet be useful!"

Yukari reacted immediately, getting up and swinging her wand in an arc, bringing out more of her magical tarot cards into the fray. "I won't let you get anywhere near him!" She cried, sending her cards into the fray. The cards and plants met half way with disastrous results for the latter. As soon as the razor sharp cards met the plant monsters they were turned into ribbons, spilling more of their green blood on to the ground.

At this point Christian once again tried to activate the Omnitrix only to be met with the same results as earlier. It had said something about an update but didn't say how long it would take for it to become active again. Lowering his arm in defeat, Christian knew that he could do nothing else but watch and support Yukari.

"Why are you standing against us Yukari?!" Ruby demanded with a voice full of wonder, using her wand to make more of the creatures grow. "He can't even use magic!"

"That doesn't matter to me!" Yukari responded, sending more of her cards at the plants. "Christian was one of the first people to ever to be kind to me! I won't let you hurt him!" The battle continued to go on with Ruby summoning more plants and Yukari slicing them apart with her cards. As time passed, the floor became coated with the bodies of the plant monsters as well as some of Yukari's tarot cards that had lost their momentum and had fallen. Eventually though, the amount of monsters being summoned began to dwindle as well as the speed of the cards Yukari had in her control. Both girls were tired and fatigued having expended so much of their magical energy.

Finally, both girls' assaults ceased, both were now panting heavily as they took in massive amount of oxygen. Too tired to do anything else, Ruby dropped to one knee whilst Yukari almost collapsed. She would have hit the ground if Christian hadn't caught her in time and helped steady her.

"This fight is over!" Christian shouted, talking to both girls. "I won't stand here any longer and watch you both exhaust yourselves!" He then turned to the older witch who was giving him a death glare despite her tired state. "Ruby, was it? I don't care that you attacked me but I won't let you take Yukari with you. She's a member of my club and that's not going to change." Christian then turned to the panting Yukari. "Are you okay?" He asked in a concerned, brotherly nature.

Smiling weakly, the younger girl nodded. "Don't…worry about…me." She told him in between breaths. "I'm tougher…than…I look."

"You did great Yukari." Christian told her with a smile of his own. "Now just focus on getting some rest."

"CHRISTIAN! YUKARI!"

The people in question turned back to see Kurumu and Moka running towards them. "Thank god you two are okay." Kurumu said once the pair had reached them. "What the hell happened here?" She demanded, having seen the vast amount of plant monsters that now littered the ground.

"We were attacked by these things." Christian replied before looking at Yukari proudly. "The Omnitrix wasn't working so Yukari fought them all off on her own. It was amazing." The witch in question blushed slightly. She now knew Christian only saw her as a sister but it still felt nice to be complimented by him.

The older girls were gobsmacked. Yukari had really defeated all these monsters single handed. How much power did she truly have?

"Why, Yukari?" Ruby asked, catching everyone's attention.

"Who's that?" Moka asked, eyeing Ruby nervously.

"No clue." Christian stated, also turning to watch Ruby in case she tried to do anything. "Only just met her, it wasn't the best of greetings either."

"Perhaps we should teach her some manners." Kurumu suggested, pounding her fist against her hand as she glared angrily at Ruby.

"No." The three looked towards Yukari, who was the one who had just spoken, in confusion. Shakily, the girl walked to the front of her friends. "Ruby…I'm sorry but I can't go with you. I have friends who are important to me and I don't want to leave them." The girl then bowed slightly. "Goodbye." The girl then turned on her heel and began walking away, leaving four shocked teens to stare after her.

Kurumu was the first to recover from her shock. Quickly, the succubus rushed after her. "Hey! Wait up! Don't push yourself!" The girl cried as she caught up to the young witch.

"I'm fine." Came Yukari's reply. "We witches are excellent healers."

Moka and Christian watched the two walk away before turning to each other and chuckled. "I'm glad you're both okay." Moka said once they had finished. "We came back to the campsite and neither of you were there. We then heard the sounds of a battle coming from the top of the hill and I was so worried. Kurumu and I rushed up here as quickly as we could. I'm so glad you're okay."

"Moka…I'm sorry that I worried you and Kurumu." Christian replied, smiling reassuringly. "You know that I don't do it on purpose."

"It doesn't stop you from getting into the situations that worry us though." Moka pointed out, causing them both to chuckle again. "Sometimes I wonder why we put up with you."

"I wonder why too." The Plumber teen admitted sheepishly before he looked the vampire in the eyes seriously. "Moka…There's something I…I want to tell you." Moka's eyes widened slightly…hoping that this was what she had wanted to hear ever since the events with Ms. Ishigami, perhaps even before that. "Moka…I-"

Christian was cut out by a sickening squelching sound as blood sprayed out from his body as a long green vine burst from his chest. Both teens were silent, Christian, because his body was going in to shock. Moka, because her mind hadn't registered what she had just seen. After a moment of agonising silence, the vine lifted up, dragging Christian up in to the air.

It was then that Moka found her words. "CHRISTIAN!" Her exclamation caught the attention of the two other girls who were on the hill. All at once they covered their mouths in shock, not able to believe what they had just seen.

"I will take Yukari back with me." Ruby's voice declared, not that anyone was listening at this point. Apparently the girl had enough strength left to perform one last attack. "Because her ladyship demands it." With those words, the vine holding the currently gasping Christian up retracted from his body, forcing the boy to fall limply to the ground.

"CHRISTIAN!" The female members of the Newspaper club exclaimed together, rushing to their friend's side.

"Tell us what to do!" Moka begged. "Tell us what to do!"

Christian coughed up blood as he tried to speak, his blood pooling around him. After a few attempts, his body came still and his eyes became dark.

"Christian! Christian!" Kurumu shouted desperately.

"No…not again…" Yukari gasped, tears appearing in her eyes.

"Christian..." Moka tried only to get no response. "Christian…wake up…please wake up…" Still no reply. Suddenly, the Rosario began to twitch and glow as demonic energy began to grow around the pinkette. Finally, when she was sure that Christian wasn't going to get up, the built up energy exploded upwards.

Ruby was almost thrown back by fearsome energy that was being sent at her in waves. She was temporarily blinded for a second…but when she was able to see again, Ruby found that the girls pink hair had turned platinum silver, her eyes blood red and slit and that her body had slightly filled out. The silver cross on her choker was being thrown around by frightening aura the girl was emitting. The red gem in the centre was glowing brightly, something inside it bubbling beneath like boiling water.

"HOW DARE YOU!?" The voice of the bluenette sounded, making Ruby look at her in time to see a pair or demonic wings burst out of her back, her nails becoming long and sharp blades. Her eyes glowed demonically with a burning hatred. "HOW DARE YOU?!"

"Wha-what are you?" Was the last thing Ruby managed to ask before the two girls charged forward, promising only death. It was then that Ruby's world went dark, her entire being engulfed in pain.

All the while, everyone failed to notice the touch screen of the Omnitrix turn red.

"OMNITRIX USER'S LIFE IS IN PERIL. OMNITRIX UPDATE HAS BEEN PAUSED. BEGINNING SURVIVAL PROTICAL ELEVEN. RELEASING TEN PERCENT OF STORED UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE."

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**And there you go. I hope you enjoyed it and I ask that you leave your thoughts in the reviews so I know what went well and what I can improve. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to send me a PM. **

**I will begin the next chapter after I correct chapters nine and ten. **

**So for now, I wish you good bye and I'll see you next time**.


	15. Chapter 14

**Hey guys! I'm back with the next part of the summer arc. I hope you guys enjoy it as I worked hard when writing it. Please remember to leave your reviews at the bottom.**

**I want to thank all the people who helped me out with this chapter and offered me advice. Especially Omnifiction who did correction work for me. This would have taken a lot longer without you guys.**

**Now, does everyone remember how there was someone with Lady Oyakata in the last chapter? Has anyone guessed who it was? The identity will be revealed this chapter. Let's see if anyone was right.**

**Quick note, Azmuth's lab and planet is the one from AF/UA. It's the better lab and planet. Also Omnitrices is the plural of Omnitrix.**

"**..." Speech**

'**...' Quote **

'**Hi' Thought**

"**Learn your place!" Inner Moka through Rosario**

**Feedback=Christian**

**Positive Feedback=Zack**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own OC's, everything else belongs to their own creators. **

**Alien Watch in a Monster School**

**Battle on the Knoll**

**Galvan II**

On the rebuilt planet of the Galvan; Azmuth, the first thinker, smartest being in three, arguably five galaxies, was completely baffled. The old alien was currently in his lab checking the readings that he had received from one of his creations two weeks ago. They were astonishing.

According to the reports, the Omnitrix had attempted to scan a foreign substance that had entered its user's body to analyse it before safely removing it from the user's body. However something had gone wrong and instead the Omnitrix had stored the substance in to itself whilst releasing a small amount of it in to the user's blood stream. It was then that there had been a sudden energy burst in the alien forms genes that had increased their natural abilities for a short while before wearing off.

However there was still lots of the substance left over. But it had been dormant, whatever the Omnitrix had stored remained in its system database as an unknown variable and had even developed a protocol for when it should be released. There was only one reason that would happen. The Omnitrix had acted on its own in order to defend its user from something that could harm him. However, when this substance was first introduced, the user had been in distress and was dying. Whatever the substance had been, it had healed the user and had essentially brought him back to life. Why would the Omnitrix contain a sample that was dangerous if it saved its user's life?

To find out more information, Azmuth sent a software patch to that specific Omnitrix which was not only designed to monitor and report back everything that happened within the user's body, but also unlocked and enhanced some of the other functions. Azmuth was sure that this anomaly was nothing to worry about but he wanted to be careful. Despite the fact he pretended not to, Azmuth did care about the users of his Omnitrices.

Suddenly, an alarm began to blare on one of the many computer screens that was present, causing the ancient Galvan to rush over to the correct computer panel. Almost instantly the Galvan assumed Ben Tennyson, the bearer of his first Omnitrix, had done something to break it again. Probably bashed it against a rock or something. However, the first thinker was surprised to learn that it was the bearer of the second Omnitrix, Christian Hawke that was causing the alert.

Much to the shock and alarm of the tiny alien, the Omnitrix was registering a dramatic drop in all his vital signs. "What in the blazes!" The alien cried, rapidly typing away on his computer panel in order to find out exactly what had happened to the teen. According to the readings he was losing blood rapidly, his entire body going into shut down. From the amount of blood that was being lost, Azmuth could only deduce that the teen had been stabbed.

Just as Azmuth was about to use his personal teleport to go to the boy, something remarkable happened. The screen suddenly registered a change that Christian was beginning to recover. His vital signs rising by the second. It was incredible, Azmuth had never seen anything like it before. This was going to be fascinating to examine. However now wasn't the time for that. Now was the time for work, and he had a lot of it to do.

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_The little girl, around the age of six, was in awe of the lights around her, each one a glittering orb of wonder. Her eyes were ablaze with the sheer brilliance of the glow illuminated before her. _

"_Ruby slow down." The girl's father chuckled, following his daughter side by side with his wife. "You'll get lost." _

"_But it's so pretty Daddy." The girl replied, turning and sending her parents a beaming smile. "This is where the humans live?" _

"_That's right." Her mother replied. _

"_Would you like to live here one day?" Her father asked, smiling at his daughter as he offered her his hand. _

"_Yeah!" The girl cried joyfully, taking a hold of her father's hand before also taking her mother's. The family continued to walk through the hustling streets, hopeful that their future was going to bright. However something crossed the young girls mind. "Daddy…? Didn't you say we couldn't live with the humans?" _

_His daughters question had caused the man's eyes to grow far and distant as if he could literally see a different world than the one in front of him. "That's true Ruby." He said with a hint of sadness. "But wouldn't it be wonderful if one day…both witches and humans can live together?"_

"_That would be wonderful Daddy!" The girl replied, still smiling happily as she used her parent's arms as a swing. _

_The family continued, the parents being practically dragged by their daughter. They crossed a road and that was when it happened. There was the ungodly shriek of rubber on concrete. The girl turned just in time to see a pair of lights heading towards her. Unlike the others, these lights seemed evil and uninviting. The lights swerved slightly but remained heading towards them. The girl heard her father shout something that she had been unable to understand before she felt herself being flung across the pavement. The girl closed her eyes as she heard another ungodly screech, the sounds of brakes being applied, the scream of a woman and finally two loud thuds. _

_Slowly and full of fear, the girl opened one eye and took a look at the upsetting scene before her. _

"_Mummy…?" She called out, tears beginning to form. "Daddy…?" _

_There was no reply. There was never going to be a reply to those words ever again._

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Ruby's eyes cracked open only to be greeted with the sight of a hanging lantern over her head. Her entire body felt sore and it hurt to move, however Ruby urged her body to move. Sitting up, a small, wet rag fell from the witches head showing that someone had been looking after her. Looking around, Ruby found herself in unfamiliar surroundings. She was alone in a tent with no memory of how she had managed to get there. Placing a hand to her head, Ruby racked her mind for some explanation as to how she had managed to find herself in her current situation.

It was then that it all came back. The fight in the field, killing the human and finally those girls transforming and attacking her. But how was that possible? They were human…weren't they?

"It's incredible!" A familiar, high voice shouted from outside the tent. "His body has completely recovered. All that's left is a scar."

"Thank goodness." A peppy voice responded with great relief. "It's a miracle."

"But how did it happen?" A kind and soft voice asked. "I didn't inject him with any blood so how did he heal himself?"

Looking around, Ruby was unable to find her wand. Those teenagers must have either taken it or destroyed it. She was defenceless so if she wanted to escape and return to her master, Ruby knew she was going to have to be stealthy. Cautiously, the girl looked outside of a crack in the tent flap to see Yukari and the two girls from before crowded around the still body of the boy she had stabbed before. For a brief moment, Ruby took a sick pleasure in the fact she had managed to kill one of these humans before something registered in her mind. Yukari had claimed that the human male had made a full recovery. How was that even possible? He was human! How had he survived!?

"Maybe the Omnitrix healed him." Yukari offered. "We don't fully understand what it can do. Maybe it tapped into Swampfire's regenerative abilities."

'_Omnitrix?' _Ruby questioned. She had never heard of anything like that before.

"If that were the case then it would have healed him when Kuyo attacked him." The pinkette pointed out, clearly referring to a past event.

"Then what else could it be?" The Bluenette asked. "He's human after all."

'_So he is human.' _Ruby noted.

"Guys, one of us should check on Ruby." Yukari suggested, making Ruby jump back further in to the tent. However this action just alerted the girls to the fact that Ruby was now awake. As one, the three students walked over and opened up the flap of the tent. Ruby knew she was in trouble. The looks the two older girls were giving her told the older witch that they were still very much angry with her for what happened earlier. Ruby prepared herself to be yelled at but to her surprise, they didn't do anything of the sort.

"So you're up." Kurumu stated, not looking too thrilled she was. "You may as well get comfortable. Oh yeah, I'm Kurumu by the way. Try not to stab me." She introduced before leaving the tent and going back over to Christian unconscious body. The surprised Ruby was now left with the smiling Yukari and monotonous Moka.

"My names Moka." Said girl introduced. "We still have some fish left over. Help yourself to it, our teacher will probably eat it anyway." With that, the pinkette left the tent and returned to her friend's side, leaving only the two witches in the tent.

"Why aren't you attacking me?" Ruby asked quietly, making Yukari look at her strangely.

"Pardon?" The younger witch responded, looking a bit confused.

"Why aren't you and your friends attacking me?" Ruby repeated, a little louder than last time. "I almost killed your friend didn't I?"

"True." Yukari admitted, looking very annoyed for a moment. "You would probably be dead right now if it weren't for me."

Ruby's eyes widened with surprise. "You…saved me?"

"Yeah." Yukari bragged, looking rather pleased with herself. "When Moka and Kurumu attacked you, I used my magic and put up a barrier around you. It wasn't enough to fully protect you but it stopped them from killing you."

"I guess I should say thank you." Ruby mumbled, now feeling extremely lucky to even be breathing. "What are you?"

"We're students." Yukari stated. "We're on a school trip from Yokai Academy."

"Yokai Academy…?" The older witch asked, looking extremely confused.

"It's a school for monsters designed to teach us to coexist with humans." Yukari explained.

"Impossible!" Ruby declared, the expression in her eyes sharpening. "Humans and monsters can never live together! They are worthless and murderous and-!"

"That's funny. The latter I could say the same about you."

Both guys jumped in surprise when a familiar male voice sounded and tent flaps opened to reveal a solemn faced Christian who had apparently decided to wake up, he was wearing his jacket but not his shirt. Bandages were wrapped around his upper body, concealing the large circular scar that no doubt was now on his chest. Behind him was a happier Moka and Kurumu, however they still looked slightly apprehensive now that their friend was before the person who had stabbed him in the first place.

"Christian!" Yukari cried happily, jumping to give Christian a hug.

However Christian winced from the contact. "Careful Yukari." He said, ruffling the younger girl's hair. "I'm still recovering over here."

With that, the younger witch pulled away. "Sorry." She said through a nervous smile.

"It's alright." Christian replied before turning to the scowling Ruby. "You okay?" He asked casually.

"How are you alive?" Ruby put bluntly. "The attack I delivered was a death blow."

The reply she got was Christian looking thoughtfully up towards the roof of the tent. "No idea." He said finally, making everyone in the tent sweat drop.

"What do you mean you don't know!?" Ruby shouted once she had recovered.

"I mean I don't know." Christian repeated calmly, not taken aback at all. "One moment I'm dying, the next I'm waking up on the beach with Kurumu and Moka sitting over me. They told me you were here and I decided to say hello. I'm Christian by the way."

The older witch's right eye twitched in disbelief. How could this boy just casually talk to her after what she had done to him? "Is there something wrong with you?!" She demanded. "I'm your enemy! Why are you treating me like another of your friends!?"

"It's called being nice." Christian stated. "It's what you do when you aren't stabbing people. I still haven't gotten an apology from you by the way."

Ruby's eyes went wide. "How dare you! I would never apologise to someone like you!"

The three other girls looked unhappy with the witches answer but Christian was unfazed. "Fine." He replied simply before digging his hand into a cooling box that just happened to be inside the tent and pulling out a can of orange tea and tossing it to the slightly hostile witch in front of him. "You may want that though. You must be parched." Once again, Ruby was shocked by Christian's kindness. "What are you?" She asked, looking down at the can in her hands.

"That's…A little harder to explain." Christian admitted, looking a little nervous. Upon seeing the weird look Ruby was giving him, the Plumber teen sighed. "Girls." He said simply."

"Witch!" Yukari declared proudly.

"Monster." Moka and Kurumu stated with forced smiles.

"And I'm human." Christian finished. "Most of the time."

"What do you mean by that?" Ruby asked, glaring at Christian.

"Sorry, trade secret." Christian replied, not trusting Ruby enough to tell her about the Omnitrix. The witch in question scowled, not liking the answer she had received.

"Why are you helping me?" Ruby asked. "I tried to kill you didn't I?"

"Oh will you stop going on about that." Christian asked, once again surprising Ruby. "I don't care about that. If you had tried to hurt one of my friends then we would have a problem." He stated, the serious look in his eye told Ruby that he was being…well…serious. "We don't need a reason to help you. You were hurt and it is the right thing to do."

"I still don't see why we are though." Kurumu interrupted. "She did try to kill you."

"Said the pot calling the kettle black." Christian said over his shoulder. "Let's face it, everyone in this tent has caused me bodily harm at some point or another. Hell…I almost die every morning on the way to school." That made the three female club members feel guilty. "Now Ruby…I understand that you don't like us and at the moment I don't think most of us are too fond of you either. So how about we call a truce and you tell us your story."

"My…story?" The older witch repeated in bewilderment. "Is this a trick?"

"No trick." Christian answered. "Just interested. You're protecting that hill like your life depends on it and I want to know why."

Ruby looked at Christian for a few seconds, taking in his features and scanning for any indication that he was lying or trying to play her. She found none and for some reason that scared her a little. After a short silence, Ruby finally decided to talk. "When I was young…my parents were killed in an accident caused by a human." That made Christian flinch slightly, the other girls knowing exactly why. "My mother and my father were all I had and they were taken from me in an instant. Ever since that day I have grown up cursing the humans and their putrid city." Ruby's story was really hitting home with the members of the Newspaper Club. Each one found themselves feeling sorry for the older girl. "I ran. I ran away from that city and found myself on that hill. It was then that I was taken in by a powerful witch who then raised me as her own daughter. We would have lived forever in peace if it weren't for the day that the humans came with their damn machines." Moka looked up thoughtfully as she remembered that the humans from earlier had mentioned something about a construction plan. "They tore up the flowers and began to destroy one of the last safe haven we witches have left." As Ruby remembered everything that had happened, her emotions began to flare, making her angrier. "Why!? Why do they do this!?" She cried standing up and throwing the can of tea she had been holding away, almost hitting Christian in the progress. "It would be so much better to just destroy all of them!"

"Are you done?"

Ruby was brought out of her thoughts to see that Kurumu was the one who has spoken. "Because that's just sad. Something went wrong because of a few select humans and your solution is to kill all of them? That doesn't make you any better than them."

"But…" Ruby tried to say before being interrupted by the Succubus again.

"But nothing. Not all humans are bad. Christian here is living proof. He saved the lives of us girls loads of times." Kurumu continued, smiling from the memories. "Whether you're human or monster, there's no difference in the value of someone's life."

Ruby was taken aback by Kurumu's words and found herself second guessing her motives. Was she really no better than the humans who had ruined her life?

"I think we should all get some sleep." Moka suggested. "We can talk more about this tomorrow." The other member of the Newspaper Club nodded and one by one left the tent until only Ruby and Christian remained.

"Aren't you going to go?" Ruby asked, however it wasn't nearly as hostile as it had been earlier.

"Well…this is my tent." Christian said pointing over to a bag of his stuff in the corner. But since you're here, I'm just going to grab a blanket and then I'm going to sleep outside. It's a nice night anyway." Once the teen had grabbed his stuff, he made his way out of the tent flap. However, just before he left completely, Christian turned and said, "Ruby…I know how you feel."

"I highly doubt that." The witch stated, not believing she and the human in front of her had anything in common.

"I wouldn't be so sure. We have more in common than you think. For one; we've both lost our parents."

That made Ruby listen. "You…you lost your parents too."

Christian's eyes became sad as he remembered his parents. "Yeah…they were killed by some kind of…monster." Christian half lied. He didn't want Ruby to know about aliens, at least not yet. "I've sworn to avenge my parents so I can understand why you want to kill humans."

"Then why do you stop me?" Ruby asked, a little confused.

"For one I'm human so I can't exactly condone you killing other humans. Especially since what you planned on committing was genocide. You want to defend your hill and I can understand that. Let me help you. I know people who can make this hill a protected place. Trust me." Ruby stared at Christian for a few moment but remained silent, taking in what she had learned. Knowing that he wasn't going to receive an answer, Christian proceeded to leave the tent. "Just think about it. No one needs to die."

With those words, Christian left the tent, leaving Ruby on her own with a lot to think about.

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On the top of the hill in the middle of the sunflower field, two figures stood side by side amidst the golden flowers looking out at the starry sky. The first figure was a white robed woman with bright, oily yellow hair that was almost on the verge of being straw coloured. Her eyes were sunken and full of rage. The scariest thing about her was her skin which had a sickly green tinge. Her companion was covered in a dark cloak that obscured his features. The only noticeable thing was the wooden staff the figure held. It was long and came up to where the figure's neck would be. At the end of the staff was a carving of what appeared to be some kind of bird's skull which had a ring going through the eye holes

The gentle silence was broken by the sound of the flap of wings. It was then that a crow as black as the night came and landed on the first figures waiting arm before it began to caw. The woman leaned down towards the crows head as if she were listening to it. "I see…" The woman said with an old but croaky voice. "Ruby was defeated and captured by the enemy. How could she be so foolish?" Her voice was now harsh and filled with disappointment.

"Perhaps you're student wasn't as skilled as you assumed?" The male voice of her companion was deep and full of pride, however it was also dark and slightly cruel.

"Ruby is more powerful than you know my friend." The woman replied before turning back to the crow. "Fetch her." The crow bowed its head before taking off and heading out in to the distance. Once the bird had gone, the woman turned back to her companion. "The war draws near." She said, turning to gesture out at the flowers around them. Slowly, the ground began to mound as something pushed its way out of the dirt. "With the blessings of water and sunlight, our army grows unceasingly. While we may lead, Ruby is to be the general of our blossoming army." The woman remarked as a green, clawed hand pushed its way fully through the dirt. "Ruby will return. As long as she has life in her, she will always return to me."

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Ruby continued to sit up on the sleeping bag she was borrowing staring at the slightly dented tea can that Christian had given to her. She didn't know why but she just couldn't stop thinking about what the boy had said to her. All her life, she had been cursing the humans who had taken her parents from her and ruined her life. And now, in less than thirty minutes, four people had managed to almost change her entire perception. And one of these people was one of the very humans she had grown up despising.

Ruby was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of fluttering wings and the tent flaps opening. The witches head snapped up to see a single crow looking up at her. Much to her surprise, the crow had her wand in its claws.

The teen recognised this crow as one of her masters familiars. _"Found you Ruby."_ An almost childlike voice said in her head. _"Come to get you Ruby. Brought your wand Ruby. Lady's angry Ruby."_

The witch's eyes widened in fear. She needed to return or else she would only further incur her master's wrath. Taking a hold of her wand, Ruby slipped silently out of the tent and in to the cool night air. The crow that had come to her was calmly perched upon the girl's shoulder. In one hand was her wand, in the other…was the can of tea. Before she walked away, Ruby cast a side glance over at the boy covered in a blanket resting peacefully by the dwindling fire. The blanket covering Christian was slightly loose and part of his shoulder was exposed. Ruby looked at the human she had harmed with intrigue. He seemed so peaceful and Ruby had no idea why. She was his enemy, why was he so relaxed? She could kill him right now, leave and his friends wouldn't be able to do anything about it. She could do it and return to her master victorious. So why didn't she?

"_We've both lost our parents."_

Ruby shook her head, casting out the thoughts. She needed to leave…now. Her wand glowed a violet light before six, black, bird like wings spread from her back. Before she took off, Ruby cast one last sideways glance between Christian and the tents that no doubt the other girls were sleeping in.

Against every instinct telling her not to, the witch teen leant down over the sleeping Plumber and placed the can of tea beside the teen's head before she gently pulled up the blanket so that it covered Christian's shoulder. Ruby remained still for a few more moments before standing up straight and walking a safe distance before she took to the air with a flap of her wings.

"Goodbye…" Ruby whispered as flew over the top of the hill and in to the beautiful field on top of it. "I wish…I wish I had met you all earlier."

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Ruby continued to fly for a few minutes until she came to the centre of the field. It was there that she saw a single, cloaked figure standing alone in a large clearing amongst the flowers. Steeling herself, the winged girl dove down towards the ground, landing ten metres away from the white cloaked figure.

"Your Ladyship…" Ruby began, her wings fading as if they had never existed. "I have returned."

The woman in front of her remained silent. However, in one fluid motion, the woman swung around and extended her arm. A long green vine lashed out from underneath the sleeve and struck Ruby around the face, causing the witch to fall to the ground.

"Is it true?" The woman asked, fury evident in her tone. "You were defeated by mere humans?"

"My lady…" Ruby began only to be struck again by the vine.

"Be silent!" The woman shouted. "What do you have to say for yourself?! You are supposed to be powerful! How could you have allowed this to happen?!"

"I'm sorry!" Ruby cried desperately as she was struck again.

"That's not good enough!" The woman shouted. "Worst of all you let them nurse you back to health!" The vines then began to move and wrap itself around Ruby's body. "What good have all my teachings been!? Do your parents' deaths mean nothing to you?! Do you care nothing for your people!? You are a disgrace to witches! And now…I must re-educate you." She said the last part as a hiss.

"My…Lady…" Ruby struggled to say as the vines ensnaring her began to tighten.

"Get off of her!" A high pitch voice shouted, causing both witches to look up at the sky to get an eyeful of one of the strangest things they had ever seen. Suspended in mid-air, a trail of green energy shooting out of something on its back, was an orange humanoid parrot wearing a green and black overalls. Two glider like wings could be seen over his shoulders and there was some kind of symbol on its left shoulder that looked like an hourglass. "This is you last warning." The parrot like being threatened.

"What are you!?" The woman demanded angrily, the vines around Ruby slackening in case they needed to be used to fight this new entity.

"Human." The creature replied, making Ruby and the woman gawk in disbelief. "Most of the time." It was then that Ruby realised who this being was...Christian. This was what he had meant when he said he was human most of the time? Acting quickly, Astrodactyl dive bombed towards the two witches, pressing the Omnitrix symbol on his shoulder and disappeared in a bright light that forced the two witches to cover their eyes. When the light had finally gone, Ruby found the vines that had been holding her laying loosely around her, scorch marks present where they had been severed.

"I think that is an improvement." A deep voice said, putting a lot of emphasis on the 'I'. Ruby looked up to see a humanoid being with long arms and bat like features. Scarily, the being had eyes all over its upper body with the exception of its face. He wore black pants with a green and white belt that had the same hourglass symbol the previous creature had in the centre. "I'm sorry but I saw you were busy and thought I should drop in. I can't stand it when I'm not invited to a party."

Ruby was flabbergasted. Christian was human, he had told her so himself. How was it possible he could be this creature?

"Ruby!" Another familiar voice cried. The witch in question turned to see Yukari, Kurumu and Moka running towards her, the former being the one who had called out. Ruby took notice Christian was not with them, further confirming the creature in front of her was the human she had harmed earlier that night. "Are you okay?" the younger witch asked, looking over Ruby in concern.

"Yukari…how did you…?" Ruby began, not understanding how Yukari and her friends could be there.

"I woke up and saw you had gone." Yukari explained. "We knew this was the only place you could have gone so we came as quickly as we could."

"You left this behind." Moka said, handing Ruby the can of tea she had left beside Christian. "We want to help."

"How did Christian…?" Ruby began, still trying to make sense of everything that had happened in the past fifty seconds.

"Christian has this thing called the Omnitrix that allows him to turn in to aliens." Kurumu answered casually. The Newspaper Club had long since gotten used to this fact. "It's no big deal."

"How is that not a big deal!?" Ruby demanded. "Wait…did you say aliens?!"

There was a bright flash that caught the girls' attention which showed that Christian had reverted back into his normal form, Lady Oyakata's eyes widened in shock, now that the teen had returned to his original form she couldn't sense any type of monster energy from him. He was definitely human, but then…how did he transform into those creatures? "We can talk about that later." He said. "At the minute I'd rather like to know who you are." This was directed towards Ruby's mistress.

"Do you honestly think I will tell a putrid human my name?!" The woman snapped, still trying to figure out how Christian had transformed.

"Yes I do!" Christian replied, raising his voice and surprising everyone. "Today, I have been half eaten, stabbed, practically killed and my Omnitrix is acting weird. Do you have any idea how long it took me to transform into Astrodactyl? I am not in the mood to be messed with. So…may I ask for your name?"

The robed witch glared at Christian spitefully. She had just seen him as two strange creatures only to change back into human form. She had no idea what is potential could be. He could ruin her entire plan. She needed to buy time whilst her partner completed the ritual. "Very well then human…let my name be the last you shall ever hear. I am Lady Oyakata, I have heard how you treated Ruby. Tell me…what brings you back to my hill?" As soon as she had said those words, a powerful aura passed through the clearing allowing everyone to sense it. Seconds later there was a powerful gust that flew past the teens, making it difficult for them to remain on their feet.

"She's so powerful!" Moka shouted, holding on to Kurumu in order to keep each other up straight.

"How about you, young witch?" Lady Oyakata asked Yukari, who had been hanging on to Christian. "Come to us. It's not too late after all. Join your own people at last! We are superior to these humans you seem so attached to. I'll prove it…by killing them all!" As she said this, Oyakata raised her arm to show a greenish hand that seemed to have vine like tendrils running underneath the skin. The nails on her fingers peeled back to allow vines to come out which then proceeded to move like snakes. Yukari looked at Oyakata with wide fearful eyes before moving to hide behind Christian. Seeing this, the older witch lowered her head so the hood of her cloak covered her features. "I see…" She said in a low, regretful tone. "Then I suppose that you will all have to die." Reaching in to her cloak, Lady Oyakata pulled out an old tome that was brown in colour with a purple gem in the centre. Almost automatically, the tome began to glow violently.

"Here she comes!" Kurumu cried, her eyes never leaving the witch.

"No…" Ruby murmured, looking fearfully out at the field as an hostile aura exploded from the ground. "Here they come."

"The sunflower field!?" Moka cried in shock.

"Hahahahahaha!" The oldest witch laughed, confusing the four students, Ruby knew what was happening. "Sunflowers? Look more carefully. These…are no mere sunflowers." As she spoke, the flowers around them began to wither and the stalks beginning to bend and move. "Horticulture is my hobby you see." Oyakata continued. "And I've been nurturing this species for quite some time…" The flower were now completely gone, shrivelled up leaving only a large green stalk which waved back and forth like a tail. It was then that a large green claws burst out of the ground, closely followed by ridged looking bodies that resembled an exoskeleton. Once the creature had fully pushed itself out of the ground, everyone was able to see what the creatures looked like. It had four legs, each possessing sharp claws. It had a horrible looking head with several blood red, pod like eyes. Opening its mouth, everyone was able to see a large set of sharp teeth.

"What is that thing?" Christian asked, feeling quite worried now that he was looking at the monster in front of him.

"A...Hanabake…" Ruby answered, making everyone look to her. "It's a man-eating plant monster."

"And one of my pets." Oyakata cackled as the Hanabake stared at the five teens with its empty red eyes. "And I think it's about time I fed it, and now I have the perfect fertiliser. What a lovely opportunity to see how my plants are growing. KILL THEM ALL!"

The Hanabake leapt forward and swung its massive claw towards Christian, who was only just able to dodge it by jumping backwards. Kurumu and Yukari reacted instantly, moving protectively in front of Christian.

"We won't let you harm him!" Kurumu declared. "You will have to get though us first!"

"As you wish." Was all Oyakata replied, waving for her 'pet' to attack again. And it would have done, if someone hadn't made Oyakata retract her order.

"WAIT!" Christian cried, rushing in between the girls and the snarling monster. "Please! We only want to talk! We want to help you protect this hill! I have connections, people who can help make this place a sanctuary! Just drop this notion of revenge and I can get you protection with one phone call!"

A painful silence descended on the hill as the teens waited for Oyakata's response. However, when all had been said and done, Oyakata just gave a cruel smile. It was then that the Hanabake shot its tail forward, striking Christian across the face and making him fall painfully to the dirt. As Christian sat up, he spat out a glob blood at the ground. The three girls from the club rushed to his side in concern, Moka helping him back to his feet. Christian had to clench his fist in order to resist the urge to activate the Omnitrix, well if it would even activate in the first place.

"You think that you can weasel your way out of this!?" Oyakata demanded. "How predictably cowardly of a human being! Pathetic creatures like you are better off dead!"

"And is that how you feel Ruby?" Christian asked, turning to the middle witch who looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. "What do you think?"

Once again, a silence fell upon the hill as everyone froze. Even the Hanabake stopped to look at Ruby. The girl in question looked conflicted, shifting her head around to look at everyone present.

"She feels the same way I do!" Lady Oyakata claimed. "She was raised to hate them!"

"You're a great guardian aren't you?" Christian remarked sarcastically. "However I asked Ruby, not you." Lady Oyakata looked at Christian in utter rage. How dare he talk to her like that? Who was he to do so? "So…" The Plumber teen continued whilst looking directly at Ruby, ignoring Oyakata's livid expression. "What do you think?"

"I…I…" Ruby began, tear beginning to form in her eyes as she felt herself being torn apart. "I think that-"

"ENOUGH!" Lady Oyakata yelled, raising her tome as the gem on it glowed menacingly. "I have heard enough!" The Hanabake snarled, showing off its teeth. In one motion, the Hanabake lunged towards Christian, who still had his back turned. Its jaws bared to rip apart the humans flesh.

"CHRISTIAN!" The rest of the News Club screamed, Kurumu already prepared to jump in to action.

"NO!" Came another scream, one that was unpredicted. Suddenly a sharp black blade burst through the Hanabake's chest, stopping it just before its claws could touch Christian. Ruby raced forward, her wings outstretched and the feathers hardened into razor like weapons which she used to cut the Hanabake to ribbons, spraying chlorophyll like blood over the ground.

Everyone present was now looking at Ruby in pure shock as she stood tall with her wings still present on her back. Lady Oyakata was the first to recover. Looking at Ruby with sad, uncomprehending eyes, Oyakata spoke in a gravelly tone, "Ruby…why? Why do you betray me?"

"My lady…" Ruby began, turning to face Oyakata with large, sad eyes. "Is war the only way left for us? Must we kill the humans?"

As she spoke, the words of her father filled her mind. _"But wouldn't it be wonderful if one day…both witches and humans can live together?"_

"Christian told us he could help us…and…and I want to believe him." Ruby stated. "I want to believe that one day…one day, humans and witches can live together in peace."

Oyakata stared at her adopted daughter in utter disbelief. Her lip quivered in regret as she realised that her final ally, the girl she had raised since she had come across this hill the fateful night, had sided with the enemies she had hated for centuries. "Ruby…so now even you betray me."

"Your Ladyship…I'm not betraying you. I'm just tired. Tired of all the hate." Ruby spoke, stepping towards her mistress slowly. "Let Christian and his friends help us. No one else has to die."

"Ruby…" Oyakata repeated, looking regretfully at the witch in front of her. "It's already too late…"

With those words, the ground around them began to burst open as more Hanabakes jumped out of the ground, surrounding the group. Each one was looking at the teens with blood thirsty looks, green saliva secreting from their mouths. Within a matter of seconds, the teens and Lady Oyakata were surrounded by hundreds of blood thirsty Hanabakes.

"All of the sunflowers were monsters!?" Christian cried in shock, looking around in terror.

"There's an army!" Kurumu cried, her eyes wide with fright.

"How many of them do you think there are?" Moka asked, her head shifting from side to side as she tried to count the sheer number of monsters around them.

"From the size of the field and the number of sunflowers per square metre, we could potentially be dealing with thousands maybe millions." Yukari calculated, fright evident in her tone.

"Your Ladyship…please don't do this!" Ruby begged, rushing forward towards Lady Oyakata.

"It is not me doing this Ruby." Oyakata admitted. "He is the one in control."

"What!? Who!?" Christian demanded, running over to Ruby's side so he could talk. "What are you talking about!?"

"A few weeks ago…a man came to the hill. He claimed to be a sorcerer and held great magic. He agreed to help us with our plan, claiming that the world belonged magic users and that we should return to the old order." Oyakata explained, albeit a little distastefully.

"The strange thing is that he often asked about the magic we possessed and spent great amounts of time reading the old scrolls and spell books we have like he had never seen anything like it before." Ruby added, looking at Christian strangely.

The Plumber teens eyes became wider and his breathing became more rugged. This person they had described sounded very familiar to what he had read in Plumber records. If Christian was right, then this situation just got ten times more dangerous. "What is his name?" Christian practically whispered, becoming very scared. "What was his name!?" He then yelled.

Oyakata found the change in the human's demeanour fascinating. This was the first time he had looked this terrified. He hadn't even been this way when the Hanabake had attacked him. Deciding to satisfy his curiosity, Oyakata answered, "The man who came here was called-ugh!"

Oyakata spasmed as her back began to smoke. Time seemed to slowed down as the elderly woman began to fall forward. Lady Oyakata hit the ground with a thud, scorch marks could be seen on the back of her cloak around a hole that had burned through to her back, allowing Christian and Ruby to see the charred blistering skin beneath. There was a moment of silence before Ruby let out an ear piercing scream.

"YOUR LADYSHIP!" The teen witch dropped to her knees and cradled the woman who had been her adopted mother in her arms. "Please hold on!" She cried as tears formed in her eyes. "You're going to be okay!"

Oyakata looked up at Ruby with dying eyes, a small trail of blood running down from her mouth. Shakily, the witch rose her hand so that she was cradling Ruby's face. "I…cannot say I approve of your choice." She said, her voice weak. "But if it is your wish…then I shall not deter you." Oyakata then turned to the shell shocked Christian. "Boy…you said you could protect this hill. Did you mean it?" A little shakily, Christian nodded. He found that it was the only thing he could do. "Then do so. Keep your word and protect the hill." Once again, the teen nodded. The girls on the side line watched the scene with teary eyes, completely unaware of the fact the Hanabakes were closing in. Finally, Oyakata turned back to Ruby. "I'm sorry I got you involved in my revenge…you deserve to live a happy life…"

"I will…" Ruby sobbed, tears falling on to Oyakata's chest. "But not without you. Please! Live! We can get help. I'm sure-"

"It is too late child." Oyakata said softly with a small smile. "This is goodbye. I'm glad to have met you, you were the daughter I could never have." With those words, Lady Oyakata closed her eyes, allowing her live to slip away. When her light breathing finally came to a halt, a gentle breeze blew over the hill, as if Oyakata's spirit was having one last passing through the sunflower field she had loved all her life before moving on.

"Your Ladyship…?" Ruby whimpered, pleading for a reply. "Please…answer me…" she sobbed, holding the body of her adopted mother closer to her. "Don't leave me alone again. I don't want to be alone."

All the members of the Newspaper Club were now crying profusely, unable to bear with the heart wrenching scene in front of them. Of course, the sound of the growling Hanabakes around them meant that they didn't have enough time to mourn or they could die. Acting quickly, Kurumu unfurled her wings and unleashed her claws. In one motion, the bluenette savagely decapitated the Hanabake closest to her.

Yukari was quick to follow, using her wand to summon the tarot cards she had used earlier to slice apart any Hanabake unfortunate enough to get in her way. The two girls then proceeded to go on a massacre, slicing apart any and all Hanabake in their path. Within a minute, Hanabake body parts littered the floor, surrounded in hordes of Chlorophyll like blood.

Moka, wanting to fight to, rushed over to Christian, who had his head down and eyes closed. "Christian! I need you to unseal me! I want to help!" Moka cried, only to be met upon deaf ears. "Christian?"

"How could he do this?" The boy murmured, confusing Moka. He couldn't believe this…Ruby had just lost another guardian, a parental figure. Having lost his own parents, Christian understood what it meant to lose a loved one. What he couldn't understand was what it meant to lose another. No one should have to go through that. Suddenly Christian snapped his head upwards and called out, "SO WHAT'S NEXT, HUH!? ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP HIDING!? COME ON OUT WHERE WE CAN SEE YOU COWARD! COME OUT NOW! HEX!"

"So, the boy knows who I am." A deep, cruel voice sounded. Everyone's attention, with the exception of Ruby, who was unresponsive as she continued to cradle Lady Oyakata's body. A figure levitating above them. The appeared to be thin, bare-chested man with tattoos over his body and face, which had a skull-like feature due to the black tattoos over his eyes and cheeks. He also wore a black cape and a hood that had red seems on the edges. In his hand was a wooden staff which had the skull of some kind of bird carved into the top. "Should I be impressed?"

"What are you doing here?!" Christian shouted angrily. "You're supposed to be in Plumber lock up!"

Hex's eyes widened slightly at the exclamation. "So…you are a Plumber? They must be desperate if they are recruiting little boys." Christian growled, fury flooding his veins. "During that attack a few weeks back," Hex began, referring to Khyber's attack on the Plumber base. "I, and a multitude of the other prisoners, were freed thanks to a technical glitch in the system. While I assume the others fled into Bellwood, I came here to learn and get away from the Plumbers. It was then that I came across this hill and the hag who owned it."

"SHE WAS NOT A HAG!" Ruby screamed, coming back to reality upon hearing Hex insult Lady Oyakata. "She was a great witch who was far more powerful than you could ever be!"

"I agree." Hex admitted, giving the distraught witch an uninterested glance. "And that is why I had to get rid of her." Everyone present was now glaring at Hex with great amounts of anger and hatred. "Despite being as old and senile as she was, the woman still had the ability to take control of these creatures from me if she wanted. She needed to be disposed of."

"So you killed her!" Christian shouted, his eyes wide with fury, his teeth clenching every time he closed his mouth. "Striking her from behind when she wasn't prepared!? You call yourself a sorcerer?! You're nothing more than a god damn coward!"

"How dare you!" Hex cried, raising his voice for the first time. "I am one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world and very soon I shall have more power than you or those Tennyson brats!"

"Oh that's what it all comes down to in the end! Who has the most power?!" Christian countered. "I hate people like you! You pick on the weak and defenceless and take away all that's good in their lives. And for what? Some measly bit of power?!"

"Measly?" Hex repeated, his brow quirked in amusement. "If only you knew." Suddenly the wicked man raised his staff and pointed out towards the decimated remains. "_Awakatelo Foligeto!" _The man cast, the eye holes of the skull at the end of his staff glowed a bright yellow. In response, the red orbs that littered the floor shone for a second before they, and all the other Hanabake parts began merging together, reforming the creature they had once been with one key difference. They were now bigger and a lot angrier.

"What the hell!" Kurumu shouted as one of the Hanabakes reformed to her direct left. "Didn't we just kill these things!?"

"That must have been a reanimation spell…" Ruby theorised, watching as the Hanabakes swarmed around them. "But it's unlike anything I've seen."

"Who is this guy!?" Yukari cried fearfully, looking directly at the smirking Hex.

"That guy is called Hex." Christian stated, gaining everyone's attention. "One of the most powerful magic users out there and despite what he may say, he's human, albeit from a different reailty."

"What!" The girls cried in utter disbelief.

"No human could do what he can." Kurumu stated.

"How many aliens have you seen me transform into?" Christian asked over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off of Hex.

"So…yet again a human has taken something precious from me." Ruby said sadly, looking at the ground with regretful eyes. "Her Ladyship was right…they should all be destroyed."

"Hey!" Christian shouted, making the girl look up at him with teary eyes. "Don't let the acts of one man define your view of humans. Hex is evil and after everything he has done can barely be considered human."

"But…" Ruby began.

"But nothing!" Christian interrupted, ferocity in his eyes. "We stop Hex now and punish him for everything he has done! This is our last stand, we either take down Hex or die trying!"

The girls looked at Christian in amazement. He was still prepared to fight despite seeing the odds against him. Confidently, Moka walked up to Christian's left and took a hold of his hand, clenching it reassuringly. "I'm with you Christian, always."

The teen smiled as he felt someone latching on to his right arm. Looking to his right he found the smiling Kurumu, her wings still unfurled. "When do we get started?"

Yukari appeared at Moka's left. "Let's kick this guy's butt!" She stated with more determination than an eleven year should, her tarot cards appearing above her.

"I'm…I'm with you as well." Ruby said, moving to stand next to Kurumu, her own wings present. "This man shall pay for what he did to Lady Oyakata."

"Five." Hex stated. "You think five people, no matter what your abilities are, can defeat me and my army!" He asked in amusement, gesturing out to the blood thirsty Hanabakes that surrounded the teens.

"No." Christian stated with a smirk, letting go of Moka's and taking hold of the Rosario. "Six." He declared, ripping of the Rosario. Within an instant, Moka was engulfed in monster energy as she started to transform. To the Newspaper Club, they knew exactly what was happening and didn't flinch at the vast amount of monster energy around Moka. Ruby however was flabbergasted by the vast amount of raw power being displayed to her. As Moka's hair turned silver and her eyes became blood red, Ruby could only come to one conclusion. This girl was a vampire.

The Hanabakes, who could sense all of Moka's monstrous power, took a few steps back in what could only be described as fear as they felt an enormous amount of pressure against them. Hex was forced to cover his face as the wind suddenly picked up, making his cape fly randomly against the gale.

When Hex was able to see again, he was the met with the sight of an angry, platinum haired girl jumping towards him. "Learn your place!" Inner Moka shouted at the top of her lungs as she swung around her leg, savagely kicking Hex in the chest and sending the man shooting towards the ground at high speeds, making a small explosion of dirt when the evil sorcerer collided with the earth.

Inner Moka fell gracefully to the ground and landed in a crouched position in front of Christian. Standing up, the vampire turned around to look at her friends. "Are we going to fight them now?"

The response she got was Kurumu and Ruby taking to the air, using their respective claws and wings to cut through a horde of the plant monsters. Seconds later, Yukari ran past with her wand raised high into the air, her razor sharp tarot cards encircling around her head.

After watching the girl go, Inner Moka turned back to Christian. "It would be wise to assume alien form." She told him.

"Way ahead of you." Christian remarked with a smirk as he moved to activate the Omnitrix. However, his smirk soon disappeared when the Omnitrix didn't activate. "What!?"

"WARNING." The automated voice of the Omnitrix began. "OMNITRIX SYSTEMS ARE CURRENTLY RECEIVING UPDATE. ALL NORMAL SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN SHUT DOWN."

"No!" Christian cried, repeatedly tapping on the touch screen in the hopes it would activate only to receive the same message again. "Not now!"

"What's wrong?" Inner Moka inquired. "Why aren't you transforming?"

"There's something wrong. It says it's…updating." Christian told her, still messing with the Omnitrix screen and getting the same message as before.

"So stop it then!" Inner Moka shouted.

"Like I haven't tried!" Christian countered, looking up at his friend with a frustrated expression. "This isn't like the kind of update you can do on a PS4 where you can pause it when you have something better to do! I don't know how to pause it!"

"It's your device!" Inner Moka pointed out.

"It doesn't mean I know how to use the bloody thing!" The teen responded.

"Hey! You two!" The familiar voice of Yukari caught the pair's attention. "When you two are done arguing like an old married couple, we could use your help with the Hanabakes!"

Christian and Inner Moka looked out at the battle field in front of them with small blushes on their faces. They couldn't see Kurumu and Ruby but were able to guess where they were due to the flying Hanabake body parts that were being thrown into the air in abundance, a spray of green liquid following them as they were ripped apart. Yukari was on the forefront of a large group, using her magic to take out any stragglers. Sighing, Inner Moka turned back to her companion.

"Stay here out of trouble." She ordered. "Like this you will only get in the way." The vampire remarked, walking towards the horde of plant monsters who promised only death.

"That's a little harsh don't you think?!" Christian called only to receive no reply. Inner Moka simply jumped and axe kicked the closet Hanabake to her, relieving Yukari of the honour, and disappearing in to the large crowd of green monsters. Once Christian had lost sight of her he turned back to the Omnitrix, cursing it for not working when it was most needed.

"Christian! Watch out!" He heard Yukari cry, sending five of her many tarot cards to attack something that was behind the Plumber teen. There was a dying, monstrous, moan before Christian heard something collapse to the ground behind him with a loud thud. The Plumber teen turned slowly to find the collapsed form of one of the many Hanabakes, puncture marks secreting its green life source could be seen on its back. Its right claw out stretched as if it were reaching out for the boy. "Thanks Yukari…" Christian said, releasing a breath he hadn't known he had been holding. "You really saved my skin."

"What's family for?" Yukari replied with a cheeky smile which Christian happily returned, glad to see that the young witch had accepted what he had told her earlier. "I'll protect you Christian so don't worry." The girl declared moving in front of Christian and raising her wand.

"I feel safer already." Christian stated, a small smile on his face before looking to the Omnitrix. _'I just wish that this thing would start working.' _

The battle of the hill continued, Kurumu and Ruby using their abilities to slice the Hanabakes apart. Inner Moka was simply moving from one monster to the next, obliterating them with every kick.

As around half of the Hanabakes were defeated, Hex's eyes flickered open. The sorcerer rubbing his head from the headache which resulted from the silver haired girls surprise attack. The skull faced man looked out across the battle field with a look of shock. He could not believe that these…teenager…had laid waste to majority of his new army. After scouring the field below, Hex found the insolent Plumber teen who appeared insistent on ruining his plan. However, for someone who talked about him being a coward, the teen wasn't doing very much fighting, in fact…he wasn't doing anything at all. The arrogant cur was standing still and relying on the young girl from earlier to protect him. He was such a hypocrite, now who was the coward?

Using a small incantation to take to the air, Hex floated high above the battle aiming his staff directly at the Plumber teen. "_Berdi Mordo Nata!" _The man chanted, as the inside of the beak of his staff began to grow. Suddenly, a torrent of flames burst from it, travelling at high speeds towards Christian who had his back turned.

However this did not go unseen by everyone. Ruby, who had been high above the air using her wings to attack from the high ground whilst the others attacked from the low. She had seen Hex attack but his attention wasn't on her. She could use this chance to kill the man and get revenge for her Ladyship. But no one had noticed the flames heading towards Christian and Yukari. If she didn't do anything then the human and fellow witch would die. Making her decision, the teen witch spread her wings and dived, flying at a speed she didn't know she could travel. Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck tingle, Christian turned to see the flames heading towards him.

"Not again…" He deadpanned, turning and wrapping Yukari in a hug, bending over the surprised witch in order to protect her from the attack. As Christian was sure they were going to be hit, he felt a pair of hands push him and the witch out of the way. He and Yukari rolled across the dirt, coming to stop a short distance from where they had been. Still holding Yukari defensively, the boy looked up to see a sight that almost stopped his heart for the third time that day.

Lying face down on the floor with burn marks all over her clothing was a barely conscious Ruby, her wand was gone, burned to cinders leaving only the purple gem behind. "Ruby!" Christian cried, letting go of Yukari and running over to fallen girl. His outburst had caught the attention of the other girls. From where they were, the girls quickly fought their ways over to their allies, Yukari arriving first as she was closest.

"No! Ruby!" The younger witch cried, rushing next to Christian's side and taking hold of the older girl's hand.

"I guess…that was pretty stupid…" Ruby wheezed, a small, tired smile on her face. "But…I did manage to save you too."

"You're going to be fine." Christian told her, although he sounded panicked. "Just stay awake, C'mon just keep looking at me. You're going to be fine." As she spoke they were joined by Kurumu and Inner Moka. Both girls' outfits were torn in places and were sweating from overexertion.

"I'm glad…I got to meet you…" Ruby told Christian and Yukari before looking to the others. "All of you…Thank you for setting me free…Remember…No sorcerer or witch…can perform magic without a medium…to channel their powers…" With those words, Ruby closed her eyes and her breathing becoming thin.

"Ruby…" Yukari tried, shaking the girl Christian was holding. "Ruby!" The witch then cried, tears once again building in her eyes. There was no response. Slowly, Christian placed the girl on the ground, making her look peaceful.

"I can't believe it…" Kurumu gasped. "I just can't believe it…"

Inner Moka remained silent but her fangs clenched as she glared up at the man floating nonchalantly above them.

"It's my fault…"

Christian's voice made all the girls turn to him. His head was down, tears were pouring down his face. "This happened because she was trying to protect me…"

"Chris…this isn't your fault." Kurumu said, trying to console the boy.

"But it is!" The Plumber teen cried. His breathing was becoming more rugged as his anger grew. "Hex has gone too far…" He growled. Before anyone else could say anything else, the sound of beeping caught everyone's attention.

"OMNITRIX UPDATE HAS BEEN COMPLETED. REGULAR SYSTEM OPERATIONS HAVE RESUMED." The Omnitrix announced.

"Finally." Christian growled, stepping back before raising the device and activating it. "Time for Hex to learn what it's like to get burned."

"Hawke! Stand down!" Inner Moka shouted. "You're not in the right mind to fight right now!" She looked down to the still Ruby. She could sense a heartbeat and knew that the girl was only unconscious. "The girl is-"

"Sorry Moka…" Christian interrupted, selecting the head icon he wanted and raising his hand as the core became exposed. "But this has gone on long enough." With those words he slammed down on the core.

"HAWKE!" Inner Moka shouted once again before she was blinded the emerald light that always followed when Christian transformed. Suddenly everything felt hotter, like someone had lit a fire in close proximity to the group. When it faded, the girls were met with quite a surprise. In front of them was a large, brown furred, fox like creature with green eyes. It had four long tails which were coated in green flames. Over its body was a green, black and white suit similar to Blitzwolfer's. It had a collar around its neck with the Omnitrix symbol on the centre. Unlike the other forms they had seen, the three girls instantly recognised this form and they instantly became very concerned. In front of them, minus the fur and clothes, was the spitting image of Kuyo in monster form. "Flarefox!" The new form shouted, announcing its name. His voice was deep and growly

"What!?" Yukari cried in confusion. "That's a Yoko! How did Christian change into a Yoko!?"

"I thought he could only turn into aliens?" Kurumu remarked, remembering what Christian had told them in the past.

Inner Moka looked at the new form with interest. Christian had some explaining to do. Hex on the other hand had his eyes wide with surprise and anger. The brat had the same abilities the Tennyson boy did. How was that even possible?

"HEX!" The sorcerer was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Flarefox calling him out. "Time to burn!" The fox like monster declared, using his rear legs to jump high up into the air and shot a blast of flame towards the evil sorcerer. Acting quickly, the evil sorcerer raised his staff and chanted another spell _"Tempestus!" _He cried, making water burst from the ground below him and shoot upwards so that it was high enough to protect the sorcerer. However, as the flames made impact with the wall of water, the liquid boiled instantly and dispersed, creating a fog of steam that obscured Hex and Flarefox from view.

Within the fog, Hex looked around nervously for his opponent, knowing that his opponent would use the change to his advantage. Suddenly he felt great amount of heat on his back. Turning, Hex barely had any time to react as a green and brown blur came out of the fog and pinned him down as they descended down to the earth.

The girls down below witnessed Flarefox exit the steam cloud, his hand like claws wrapped around Hex's arms. The two hit the ground hard in an area with no sunflowers, the sorcerer taking the brunt of the impact. Above him, the snarling Flarefox was glaring directly into the man's eyes. "What are you waiting for?" Hex asked, glaring back up at Flarefox with just as much anger as the monster was giving him.

Flarefox didn't reply. Instead he simply allowed the flames on his tail to flow all over his body and down to his front claws which proceeded to burn Hex and make him cry out in pain which seemed to slightly satisfy the fox monster. If one were to look closely, they would be able to see speckles of red appearing in his green eyes. Flarefox then released Hex's right arm, which was now badly burned, and raised his claw in to the air in preparation to strike with his long claws. However this also gave the chance to cast a spell. Painfully, the sorcerer angled the end of his staff towards the ground. Quickly, the sorcerer said the first spell that came into his head. _"Kalecky Erupt!" _Suddenly a large stone erupted from the ground and struck Flarefox in the side, making the boy turned monster fly off the sorcerer. However as he was thrown off, Flarefox's claws brushed across Hex's unprotected chest and cut into the flesh, drawing a small amount of blood to the surface.

The girls didn't know what to make of the fight in front of them. Both combatants appeared to be giving it all. Christian was being particularly more brutal which was not a good thing. He must be extremely angry after what had happened to Ruby. Thankfully, Flarefox's flames didn't appear to be a powerful as Kuyo was otherwise it was possible Christian may burn down all of the sunflowers on the hill.

The three girls tried to move to help Christian, but Hex saw them. As he dodged a blast of flame that Flarefox had sent him by levitating upwards, he pointed his staff out towards the girls and the Hanabake remains and cast the same spell he had earlier. "_Awakatelo Foligeto_!" As soon as the words left the sorcerer's mouth, the scattered Hanabake remains began to reform into the monsters they had originally been and just like last time, they were now bigger and more ferocious than before. As soon as they were in one piece, the Hanabakes jumped so that they became a wall that separated the girls from Hex and Flarefox. Of course, this only made the girls more determined to get to their friend as they began to slash and kick apart the familiar foes.

Back with the main battle, Hex and Flarefox were circling one another, each combatant waiting for the most opportune moment to strike. Finally, after several moments of only glaring at each other, Flarefox charged forward with incredible speed, his sharp teeth bared. Within seconds, the monster was down upon Hex, taking a swipe at the sorcerer with one of his large claws, using his flames to boost the damage he could do. Unfortunately, Hex was able to dodge it by jumping and rolling to the side. As soon as he was upright again, the sorcerer was put on the defensive yet again as Flarefox sent another blast of flame. "_Tempestus_!" He casted, once again creating a wall of water that blocked the assault.

"What's wrong Hex?!" Flarefox demanded, glaring dangerously at the sorcerer with his teeth bared. "You can't kill someone without striking him from behind?"

"Insolent brat!" Hex shouted, his anger flaring. "I will send you to the pits of hell to join that hag Oyakata!" The sorcerer then proceeded to lift his staff and bash it into the ground, the eyes of the bird head glowing bright orange. "I shall show you all that I have learned from my time on this hill!" Before Flarefox could do anything, Hex began murmuring a chant the boy turned monster couldn't hear. Instantly, the red eyes of the Hanabakes glowed. Inner Moka had just demolished a Hanabake and was about to move on the next one, when suddenly, her opponent ran away, following its brethren as they rushed towards their sorcerer master. All of the Hanabakes jumped on to Hex and began to meld their flesh around the sorcerer to become one mass.

"Oh no!" Yukari cried, making Kurumu and Inner Moka look at her in concern.

"What is it!?" Kurumu asked, not taking her eyes off of the growing thing in front of them.

"That guy is using a forbidden spell." Yukari explained. "It's a spell of last resort which merges the user with one or more creatures and incorporates their powers. However once it's finished, the user can never return to their original form." A loud roar caught the girls' attention. The three looked up to see an enormous creature, around the half the size of Way Big. It had four large arms that extended out from its body whilst dozens of large, thick tentacles were spread out all over its back. Millions of red eyes were spread out over its body. Its upper torso was covered in huge drooling mouths which were even present on its back. In the centre mouth, Hex could be seen, his cloak billowing out behind him whilst his hands and legs had fused into the pink flesh of the mouth he was in. His staff was positioned in front of him, also submerged in the flesh in front of him. The girls, including Inner Moka, looked up at the behemoth with eyes full of fear. They had only seen one other thing taller than what Hex had become, and they were glad he was on their side, if he really was still on their side. Flarefox was looking up at Hex with a large amount of fury, too blinded by his anger to be scared.

"Incredible!" Hex stated, his voice booming. "I can't believe the power this form has! No one will be able to stand against me now!"

"It doesn't mean we won't try!" Flarefox cried, flames encircling around his tails as he tried a technique he had seen Kuyo use.

"Is he…?" Yukari began, looking at Flarefox in shock.

"Yeah." Kurumu confirmed, sharing Yukari's expression.

"Get down!" Inner Moka cried, jumping back as the heat began to increase.

"Let's see how you like this!" Flarefox cried as he released the flames running around his tail, sending out his own version of the Wheel of Fire towards Hex's lumbering form. The flames hit their mark, striking the mouth Hex was in. There was a large explosion as flames and smoke billowed out from the area that had been hit. For what felt like hours, the group waited in nervous silence to find out what had happened. As the smoke began to clear, the group were in for a truly horrible sight. The mouth Hex had been in was now hanging loosely ajar, the green flesh around it badly burned and charcoal black. Hex's body could be made out in the mess that had once been a jaw. It was mostly destroyed, burned away by the heat of the flames. Somehow, the wooden staff looked completely unharmed and barely looked charred. Hex must have cast charms on it to protect it from fire long before the fight.

The girls were in pure shock. Had Christian just killed this man? Suddenly, the sickening sound of something squelching caught their attention. Looking up, the girls were amazed to see the ripped jaw returning to its proper place, the burnt and scorch marks healing instantly, returning to the sickening green it had been before. Inside the mouth, Hex's body was also recovering, his color returning to normal. As his body fully reformed, a smirk appeared on the skull tattooed man's face. "Is that the best you have?!" He asked in a cocky tone. "I'm not impressed."

Flarefox became angrier as the flames around his body began to increase, slowly obscuring him from sight. "I'll show you the best I've got!" He cried as he finally disappeared into the green flames surrounding him.

Inner Moka knew what was coming and instantly moved to get her friends out of the way. Grabbing Kurumu and Yukari around their waists, the vampire jumped to where Ruby's unconscious form lay. Behind them, Flarefox's monster energy had exploded and was becoming raw power. After a few seconds of the emerald flames flaring madly around him, they were blown away by a shockwave as something jumped out of them and up towards Hex's large form. The sorcerer felt a powerful, burning fist connect as something delivered a wicked right hook to his face.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hex was able to make out a being with a human-like upper half and a fox's lower half complete with the four tails Flarefox had. The upper body resembled the boy from earlier, except his hair was slightly longer, and brown fur covered his whole body. Fox-like ears stuck out from his head and his hands were clawed. Black markings were on his cheeks and he wore the same uniform Flarefox had. The Omnitrix dial was on a collar around the form's neck. The form's green eyes were wide with hatred as he looked at Hex. Hex, of course, had no idea what this form was, but the girls down below recognized it as a Yoko's battle form. Christian had just released Flarefox's true abilities.

Flarefox remained with his fist connected to Hex's face, standing inside of the mouth to keep him from falling. However, Hex merely chuckled before one of the large vines on his back reached inside the mouth and wrapped itself around Flarefox's waist and pulled him out. From there, Flarefox watched furiously as Hex's main body's face healed itself instantly from being a squished, burned mess to being completely intact. Whatever Hex had done to himself had made his body like putty, but Flarefox didn't care. All that mattered was making Hex pay for what he had done to Ruby and Lady Oyakata. He just couldn't believe he had let more people suffer. His parents, those students Khyber killed, Lady Oyakata, and now Ruby. Hex wasn't getting away with his crimes and he was going to make sure of that.

Increasing the amount of flames around his body, Flarefox reduced the vine holding him to cinders, allowing the teen to fall, flip in the air and land gracefully on the ground. Now that Flarefox looked more human, the girls could see just how angry Flarefox was. His eyes were narrowed, his hands were shaking and his teeth where bared as he breathed heavily in and out. Inner Moka knew that Flarefox wanted to continue to fight but also knew that with Hex's new abilities he didn't have a prayer in beating him. He could do all the damage he wanted and it would just be healed instantly. Inner Moka needed to stop Christian from killing himself.

"Kurumu, Yukari." She said, earning said girls attentions. "Look after Ruby. She's alive but is unconscious."

"What are you going to do?" Yukari asked, knowing that Inner Moka was about to do something."

"Smack some sense into the emotional wreck." Inner Moka stated. However before she could even act, there was the deafening sound of a large explosion from behind the girls. They turned to see Flarefox literally unleashing everything he had at the gigantic monster that was Hex. The fox like teen was now sending fire ball after fire ball all over the titan's massive body, each one exploding upon impact. However no sooner had the smoke faded did the injuries the behemoth receive heal.

"Give it up boy!" Hex thundered, clearly amused by his opponents ordeal.

"Never!" Flarefox responded, sending a massive blast of emerald flames at the mouth the sorcerer was in.

This time Hex did block it, using one of his four gigantic arms to take the flames. "I grow tired of this." He declared. "Once I finish you, I can move on with my army to conquer all the nations, taking all magical secrets for my own!"

"You're not even getting off this hill!" Flarefox retorted, sending another blast of flames at the sorcerer. However, just as before, it was ineffective. The flames hit the outstretched arm of one of Hex's new arms, which caused a large explosion with the bonus effect of creating a smokescreen that proceeded to blanket the area.

Inner Moka used this opportunity as her opening, diving through the smoke towards the only thing that was illuminated: Flarefox. The vampire teen spear kicked the human turned Yoko out of the haze and down a small hill where they wouldn't be seen by Hex; Flarefox's flames dying as he rolled down the hill. When he had finally come to a stop, the teen slowly pushed himself up from the ground.

"Wha-!?" Flarefox began before he felt someone slap him hard across the face. When Flarefox's vision came back into focus he was greeted with the sight of an angry Inner Moka standing over him and looking the monster fiercely in the eyes.

"What on earth were you thinking!?" The angry vampire yelled, slapping Flarefox's other cheek. "Do you have any idea what you are doing?"

"But Hex-" Flarefox tried only to be interrupted once more by the vampire girl.

"Is far too powerful to fight on your own! Yes, the Yoko is a powerful form, but it clearly isn't the right one for this situation! As you have failed to notice in your angry outburst, this man's regenerative capabilities are far too great for this form's flames to do any damage. At this rate you are going to destroy the field you promised that woman you would protect!" Inner Moka reprimanded. "Not only that, but in your rage you forgot about your friends' safety! Did you even wonder what we were doing while you battled Hex?"

The truth hit Flarefox like a freight train. In his anger, he had completely forgotten about his friends. How could he have been so stupid? "I'm sorry…" Flarefox murmured, looking down and feeling disgusted with himself, the speckles of red disappearing from his eyes. Slowly, he reached up and pressed the Omnitrix on his collar and disappeared in flash of emerald light. Once it had faded, Christian was back in his original form. The teen still had the gloomy expression he had while transformed as the Yoko.

"You should be!" Inner Moka reprimanded. "In a battle, you shouldn't let your emotions cloud your judgement! It's times like that when people die!"

"I know…" Christian responded.

Inner Moka sighed, knowing that she lectured Christian enough. "Either way, we should head back to the others. They will need our help, especially as they are guarding Ruby as-"

"Ruby's alive?!" The Plumber teen cried, his eyes wide with shock.

"The magician's attack only rendered her unconscious. She's alive though." The vampire girl told him.

"Thank god…" Christian murmured, sighing in relief.

"If you're done, we should get moving." Inner Moka told the teen, earning a nod from him.

"Just let me get-" The Omnitrix wielder began before being interrupted by the ground beneath them shaking. Before either teen could react, several vines burst out of the ground and formed a dome around the teens. The sound of deep laughter met their ears as their new cage suddenly lifted itself from the ground and up over the hill. As they weren't actually strapped down, Inner Moka and Christian were not ready for the sudden movement and fell on each other, Christian ending up on top of his vampire friend. When the cage finally came to a halt, the Plumber teen looked around, curious as to what had happened.

"Hawke." The sound of Inner Moka practically growling his name brought the boys attention to her. "Remove yourself before I have to teach you your place." The vampire teen snarled, her face slightly tinged red.

"Sorry!" Christian blurted out, jumping back to the other side of their green prison.

"Christian! Moka!"

The sound of their friends calling out to them made the two teens look out through one of the small gaps in their cage to see Kurumu and Yukari in a similar situation to them. The girls, plus the unconscious Ruby, were sealed tightly away in another spherical cage made of vines which were apparently so thick that not even Kurumu's nails could slice through them.

"Guys! Are you okay!?" Christian called.

"Don't worry!" Kurumu cried back. "We're fine!"

"But you won't be for long!" Hex's voice rang out, making both sets of teens turn to see his gigantic form towering in front of their respective prisons. "You shall die here, wishing that you had never dared to cross me! Then, I and my army of monster soldiers shall wreak havoc across this world, taking any and all magical secrets for my own!"

"You'll never get away with it!" Christian cried from his and Moka's cage. "The Plumbers will stop you!"

"The Plumbers will have no say in the matter!" Hex countered. "I'm far too powerful for them now!"

Christian growled, glaring hatefully at the monster Hex had become. However, a lightbulb went off in his head as he remembered something the sorcerer had said only moments before.

"Plants…" He said, confusing Inner Moka who was beside him. "That's it."

"What?" Inner Moka asked, confused by what Christian meant.

"Hex's biology is basically that of a giant plant's right now." The teen told her. "Swampfire has the ability to control plants. If I transform into him now, I may be able to gain control of his body."

"But he was originally human." Inner Moka pointed out. "It may not work."

"It's worth a try, especially if it means you and the others will be safe." Christian told the girl, earning an extremely small blush that went unseen and unacknowledged by both occupants of the cage. Christian activated the Omnitrix, a little surprised that it had recharged already as he had just been in another form for so long. Quickly he scrolled through the head icons until he found the one he was looking for. He was about to select it when the cage suddenly lurched to the side as Hex moved it to disorientate the prisoners. Unbeknownst to anyone, Christian's finger slipped and another head icon was selected instead of Swampfire's. Shaking off the sudden movement of the cage, Christian selected the head icon on the holo wheel without even looking at it. Once the core had opened up, the teen slammed his open palm down upon it, transforming in a flash of blinding light.

When it faded however, Christian had transformed into another new form that neither he nor Inner Moka had ever seen before. The form was covered in thick metal, on it's back was a jet pack with two large thrusters just waiting to burn. His forearms, lower legs, jetpack and the shoulder pads that were on his arms were all dark green whilst his upper arms and legs, lower torso and face plate were black. In the palms of his gauntleted hands was a large circle which looked like an exhaust port. If one were to look, similar exhaust ports could be found in the base of it's feet. The slits in his face plate were green. The Omnitrix symbol was located in the centre of his chest.

"What the…?" The new form spoke, it's voice sounded synthesized and slightly heroic. "Who's this?"

"You didn't have this form before?" Inner Moka inquired, quirking a brow at the metal form.

The form looked at Inner Moka. Through the face plate, he could see targeting computers, system checks, and weapon capacities. Whatever he was, he was in a suit or armour. "Never." The form stated, looking back down at his gauntleted hands. Suddenly, a section of his inner right arm opened and a small cylindrical object shot out in to the forms open hand, it was attached to two flexible strips of metal that connected it to the forms arms. Suddenly, the exhaust port in his palm opened up and connected to the object. Suddenly the object began to glow as a beam of high density, blue light particles. The armoured form looked at his new weapon with intrigue, giving it a small wave. "But I like what he can do."

"That looks like some kind of sword." Inner Moka pointed out, looking admiringly at her friend.

"Ironmonger."

The Vampire teen gave her friend a strange look. "What?"

"I think I'll call this guy Ironmonger." The newly dubbed form responded, placing his sword down towards the base of the cage.

Inner Moka looked at Ironmonger with a dumbfounded expression. "We are quite possibly going to be killed…and you take this time…to name a new transformation?"

"Why not?" Ironmonger replied, his faceplate emotionless but voice slightly cocky. "As you said, this could be the last time I transform." Before Inner Moka could respond, the armoured alien turned to face their green cage. For some reason, the suit scanned the structure of the cage and told Ironmonger exactly the density of the vines. Suddenly, the light of his sword became brighter and more intense. "Moka," Ironmonger began. "Watch this…" Before she could reply, Ironmonger slashed through the vines cutting through them like a hot knife through butter. Once he had made one large slash, he proceeded to make another in the opposite direction, creating a burning 'x' in the vines. The armoured alien then proceeded to raise his left hand towards the vines as the exhaust port on that hand opened up and a large blue beam shot out, bursting open the vines. "Cool." Ironmonger commented as he walked towards the new opening. Looking out he found an angry Hex glaring at him, clearly displeased by the teen turned alien's persistence in opposing him.

"So you still have some fight left in you!?" Hex voice thundered. "I guess you can supply some entertainment before you die!"

"Moka." Ironmonger began, not looking back towards his friend. "If I go down here, you need to get everyone off this hill and contact the Plumbers. There's a communicator in my bag back on the beach. Make sure everyone gets away safe."

"Hawke, you are not fighting this alone." Inner Moka stated, moving to stand beside her mechanical friend.

"Fine." Ironmonger submitted, knowing there was no chance in dissuading the girl. "Can you hold him off while I free the others?"

"With pleasure." The vampire teen replied with a smirk, jumping high into the air and axe kicking one of the giant mouths that was present on Hex's new body.

"That's my girl." Ironmonger commented before realising what he had just said. Apparently this form was a lot more confident than he was in human form. Quickly thanking whatever deity was up there that his vampire friend hadn't heard him, Ironmonger released the grip on his sword, allowing it to retract back into his arm. "Please let this work." He said before jumping down from the high up cage. He fell several metres, giving a mental command to the armour as he did. Much to his relief, the vents on his jetpack opened up firing out large amounts of blue energy which proceeded to propel the form into the air. "Woo hoo!" Ironmonger yelled as he flew up into the air at high speeds, leaving a small, blue light trail as he did so. Performing a cartwheel in the air, Ironmonger dive bombed down towards the second cage which held his other friends.

As he approached, Ironmonger flipped in the air, opening up the exhaust ports in his feet to slow him down enough that he came to a stop just in front of the vines. Inside, Yukari and Kurumu looked at the new form in awe. "Christian…is that you?" Yukari asked, admiring the new form.

"Yep." Ironmonger confirmed, once again ejecting the cylindrical hilt from his arm and passing energy into it to activate the sword. "Stand back." He ordered, the girls doing as they were told, before plunging the light particle sword through the vines and using it to cut a wide circle in the vines that was large enough for the girls to leave from. Once he had cut a full circle, Ironmonger proceeded to pull the vines apart, creating an opening. "Kurumu, you grab Yukari and take her down to ground level. I'll grab Ruby." Once the girls had obliged and gotten out of the cage, Ironmonger walked over and picked up Ruby bridal style. The metal covered alien then proceeded to activate his jetpack and hovered gently out of the cage and down to the ground.

Upon making sure that his friends were safe, Ironmonger left Ruby in the two girls care. "I'm going to help Moka." He told his friends. "Make sure you keep her safe."

"Christian!" Yukari cried, making the armoured alien look back towards the young witch. "Remember what Ruby said. Witches and Sorcerers need a medium to cast their magic through. It's a long shot but if you destroy that guys staff, there's a chance it will undo his transformation and render him powerless, it's slim though."

Ironmonger looked at the girl with his emotionless expression, despite that though Yukari could tell he was looking at her kindly. "Thanks Yukari."

"Ahh!"

The sound of Inner Moka crying out caused everyone to look up to see the vampire girl suspended up in mid-air by several thin vines that had pierced into her body. The vines could be seen traveling up under her skin, bulging grotesquely as blood squirted from the wounds in her neck, arms and legs as her body twitched.

"The power!" Hex cried, pointing his head upwards as he absorbed Moka's abilities. "This magic not only allows me to merge with one type of being, but many! This girl has power unlike any other!"

"Moka!" Ironmonger cried in alarm. "Let her go!"

"Or what!?" Hex mocked.

"Or I make you." Ironmonger growled. His threat wasn't taken seriously as Hex began laughing.

"You can't be serious boy! Any damage you do to me will easily be undone!" The mutated Sorcerer retorted.

Instead of a response, Ironmonger merely activated his jetpack, allowing it to build with energy before finally releasing it and shooting upward, creating a sonic boom as he did so. No sooner had he entered the air did Ironmonger once again eject the cylindrical hilt and lit up his sword. Hex retaliated by sending several vines to ensnare the armoured alien. Remarkably though, through his sheer determination to reach his closest friend, Ironmonger managed to either fly around or slice apart all of the incoming attacks. Just as he was about to reach Inner Moka, a wall of vines burst from the ground and wrapped themselves around Ironmonger, once again entrapping the alien within a cage of vines not allowing any of the green and black armoured alien to be seen.

"Christian!" The girls cried in fear, looking to the cage.

"You won't escape this time boy!" Hex gloated. "I have used my magic to increase the strength of those vines! You won't be getting out this time!"

"Wanna bet!?" Ironmonger's voice sounded before a bright blue light could be seen glowing through the small cracks in the vine cage, the light growing slowly as it became brighter. Finally, just as the light had reached its peak, the cage rippling as the energy inside continued to build before finally it exploded, annihilating the cage which held Ironmonger, leaving the iron like alien floating nonchalantly in the air with his arm's stretched out, their palms overflowing with energy.

While the girls looked with pure bewilderment and hope, the monster Sorcerer look with unbridled rage. Ironmonger turned his head so that he was facing Hex's. "My turn." He stated, flicking his arms and ejecting two cylindrical hilts, one from each arm, and activating them and forming two of the light swords. Once again, the form's jet pack flared with energy as Ironmonger propelled himself higher into the air, coming to a stop when he was just above the Hex's monstrous body. The energy flowing from Ironmonger's jet pack ceased, slowing his ascent until he finally came to a short stop in the air before falling once more back towards the ground. With an enraged roar, Hex rose one of his giant fists into the air and tried to hit Ironmonger out of the sky.

As the large fist and alien came closer, the later reignited his jetpack and lit the exhaust holes in his feet, throwing the alien forward at a higher velocity. At the last moment, Ironmonger brought up his swords in a crossed formation in front of him and began spinning in the air, turning himself into a make shift drill that proceeded to pierce through the green flesh of the creatures arm. Ironmonger continued to spin until he had left the confines of the creature's arm, his metal armour covered in dripping chlorophyll like blood. Continuing his momentum, Ironmonger shot past the vines holding Inner Moka in the air, using his swords to slice them apart and thus allowing the Inner Moka to fall towards the grounds.

Performing a flip in mid-air and returning his swords to his arms, Ironmonger then shot back towards his falling friend, catching her as she was midway to the ground. "We have to stop meeting like this." Ironmonger quipped as he held the girl close so she wouldn't fall.

"Put me down Hawke." Inner Moka warned. "Or this will be the last time we meet."

"Touchy" The armoured alien commented before flying back down towards their friends. Once Inner Moka was safely back on the ground, Ironmonger flew back into the air until he was eye level with Hex. "I'm going to give you one last chance to surrender!" He shouted.

"I should be saying that to you!" Hex yelled, sending a volley of large vines after the armoured form.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Ironmonger sighed, activating his Jet pack and shooting towards the mouth Hex was in. Ironmonger swerved and barrel rolled around the Hex's vines, getting closer to the sorcerer with every passing second. Just before he reached it, Ironmonger ejected the hilt in his right arm and activated it. With a loud yell coming through the emotionless face plate, Ironmonger swung his arm in an arc and cut Hex's staff in two. For a moment, nothing happened. Ironmonger simply looked into the shocked sorcerer's eyes whilst Hex looked into the slits in his faceplate. "It's over." Ironmonger growled before using his exhaust ports to shoot himself back out to a safe distance.

"No…" Hex gasped in disbelief, is breathing slightly rugged. "NOOOOOOOOO!"

*BOOM*

As soon as Hex had started yelling, his entire monsterous body began to bulge and erupt with bright light. As it met its climax, Hex's new body exploded in a flash of blinding white light that covered the whole area.

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The Sorcerer wearily opened his eyes, his body in complete agony. Looking up, he could see the night sky baring down on him. He appeared to be surrounded by sunflowers. His body was burned and he found it near impossible to move anything below his neck. Surprisingly though, there was one star that seemed to be green and getting brighter. It was then that the sorcerer realised that it wasn't a star. After a few more seconds, the bright star landed in front of Hex revealing itself to be Ironmonger.

The sorcerer looked up at Ironmonger with tired eyes. The armoured form reached up to the Omnitrix symbol on his chest and pressed it, reverting back in to Christian. Hex couldn't believe it. Once again he had been beaten by a mere child. "Who…are you?" Hex asked, his voice wheezy as he struggled to speak.

"My name is Christian Hawke. I am a Plumber and student of Yokai Academy." The Omnitrix wielder began, unaware that Inner Moka, Kurumu and Yukari were moving to his side. "It is my mission to build the bridge between humans and monsters and I shall never allow people like you to get it the way of that."

"I will…remember this." Hex growled before succumbing to unconsciousness.

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"You did what!?" Ms. Nekonome cried angrily. After Hex had fallen unconscious, the Newspaper Club members had returned to their campsite and woken up Ms. Nekonome told the cat like teacher everything that had happened and why they had two unconscious people with them, Hex had been gagged and bound in vines 'graciously' provided by Swampfire and was currently inside Christian's tent.

"We stopped an evil homicidal maniac." Christian repeated, a little scared as his teacher was right in his face with her cat like claws out.

"But I'm your teacher! You should never have left the campsite without my permission! Especially at night!"

"You were asleep and it was kind of urgent." Christian pointed out. "I'm honestly surprised you didn't wake up. It was quite a large battle." That comment earned the Plumber teen a scratch across the face.

"In any case," Ms. Nekonome sighed, turning away from her victim and towards the girls who were fretting over the unconscious Ruby. "How is she? Not too hurt I hope."

"Ruby took quite the hit." Moka, the Rosario back in place, said. "She saved Christian and Yukari."

"She will need medical attention." Ms. Nekonome told the girls, bending down to take a better look. "The poor thing…she must have been through a lot."

"But now she has us to look after her." Yukari chimed, she was holding Ruby's hand tightly. "We can take her to Yokai Academy. They have a hospital there."

"That's probably for the best." There cat like teacher responded. "We can't really take her to a human hospital now."

"I guess we should pack up our stuff then?" Kurumu asked sadly, earning a nod from everyone.

"It's for the best." The recovered Christian pointed out. "At least nothing else is going to happen tonight." Almost as if the Gods themselves were interfering, a thundering noise came from the sky.

The four teens and there teacher looked up to see a massive green jet that strangely resembled the Concorde descending from above, blue flames of energy bursting down from the exhaust ports on the back of it's wings. As the five people looked up in shock, the jet turned so that it was facing away from them and the back of the ship opened up to reveal a cargo bay like area. Standing just inside was a tall, muscular young man with raven hair that came down to his shoulders that was styled in to a choppy mullet. He wore a tight black t-shirt with a long sleeved grey shirt underneath. He also wore blue trousers and black combat shoes.

"Hawke!" The newcomer called out to the Omnitrix wielder over the roar of his vessels thrusters, apparently knowing who Christian was. "Get in!" He ordered.

"Kevin!?" Christian cried in shock, absolutely dumbfounded. "What are you doing here!?"

"You're coming with me!" Kevin cried.

"Where!?

"Where do you think!? You're coming back to Bellwood!"

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**And there you go. I hope you enjoyed the chapter as much as I did writing it. What mess has Christian gotten in to now? You'll find out in two chapters time as now it's time to see what Zack's been doing. **

**For anyone who's wondering, yes Ironmonger was based on Iron man but he is not what you think. He was also unlocked through the update the Omnitrix received.**

**Ironmonger is an energy based life form which cannot survive outside of it's own plant without the armour Ironmonger wears. The hilts in his arms work by pumping Ironmongers energy through the vent in his hand into the devices which Ironmonger can then meld the light particles into the shapes he wants. In this case a sword. If Ironmonger were to leave his armour for more than a few seconds he would fade away into nothingness, thus killing Christian. **

**Flarefox was unlocked in chapter eleven when Christian tricked Kuyo. For a full bio of these forms look on my profile page. **

**As for what the Omnitrix updated, I will cover that in two chapters time but for now you should know that his transformation limit has been increased and he has gained access to one other form which will be revealed in the Monstrel arc. **

**Anyway, as all ways please leave your reviews so I know what went well and what can be improved and I'll see you next time.**


	16. Chapter 15

**Hey guys! I'm sorry this took a while. I had a small accident that prevented me from writing for a little bit as well as school work that constantly got in the way. Anyway, I'm back with the second part of the summer arc. This time we will be focusing on Zack for two chapters. This chapter is more of a crossover between Ben 10 and To Love Ru. I hope you enjoy it. **

**To the guest who asked me those questions, the reason Zack beat Christian the first time is because Christian was shocked by Grimlock and also didn't want to hurt Zack. The second time, Grimlock caught him by surprise when he transformed. As for whether Christian will get something to defend himself while in human form, I don't think he should have anything as it takes away the point of having the Omnitrix. He may get something in the far future but we are talking extremely far down the line.**

**Quick note, Ben's aliens will have the Omniverse appearance with the exception of the original aliens that can go ultimate but not Swampfire. Whilst Zack's look like they do on MrRyder's deviant art page. From now on Christian's aliens will have the UA/AF look with the exception of a few.**

"**..." Speech**

'**...' Quote **

'**Hi' Thought**

_**My name is= narrative thought**_

"**Learn your place!" Inner Moka through Rosario**

**Prime Feedback=Ben**

**Positive Feedback=Zack**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC characters, everything else belongs to their own creators.**

**Alien Watch in a Monster School**

**Settling In**

_My name is Zackery Orion, but my friends call me Zack. Two weeks ago, I was taken away from my school, Yokai Academy, by two members of a top secret organisation known as the Plumbers. They told both me and my friends about how they needed to examine me and my Ultramatrix. Upon Christian's recommendation, the Plumber agents agreed to train me to become one of them if I passed some tests._

_Of course, the headmaster's permission also had to be asked for me to be allowed to leave school. Thankfully, he had said yes, and the next thing I knew, I was saying goodbye to my friends and being shipped out to a town called Bellwood in America. I was amazed to learn that they had an entire base the size of a small skyscraper hidden underneath the town!_

_It was there that I met Chris's mentor, Max Tennyson, and his grandson Ben Tennyson. I also learned that it was Ben who was the original Omnitrix wielder and that it was him in all those newspaper articles that were in the Newspaper Club room. I was shocked to learn that he had been fighting aliens and saving the world since he was ten years old. He would have been the perfect role model if it weren't for his cocky attitude. _

_Anyway, after the introductions were finished, Mr. Tennyson explained to me what the Plumbers were and the purpose of their organisation. It was honestly a little overwhelming. After that, I was asked to explain my abilities and how I had managed to copy Christian's Omnitrix. I explained to them how I was a Doppelganger, but for some reason I could only copy articles of clothing, which is what the Omnitrix essentially is. Max and Ben then started whispering to each other. I didn't really hear what they said but I was able to make out the words 'Azmuth' and 'angry'. _

_Mr. Tennyson then told me that I was going to have to have some tests done to make sure that there were no hazards to my health. According to Ben, I had abilities close to his friend 'Kevin Levin', who had absorbed the powers of the Omnitrix before and turned into a mutant with an amalgam of Ben's aliens body parts and made him crazy. Since I didn't want that to happen to me, I gladly agreed to take these tests._

_After a few hours of examinations and physical tests, the plumber scientists, who were two aliens called Blukic and Driba, and appeared to be the same species as Grey Matter, made the analysis that the Ultramatrix wasn't technology, but biology. It was connected to my skin and every nerve in my body._

_The technicians told us that my Ultramatrix worked like a muscle. If I overused it where there was a danger, it could 'snap'. They didn't know what it could do to my body, but they guessed it was bad. It was kind of hard to take them seriously considering that they kept arguing with each other. They also assumed, that like a muscle, if I continued to use my powers at a slow and manageable rate, they could grow and I may be able to hold my transformation for longer than the fifteen minutes I already know I can stay transformed for._

_It was after this that I was taken to the surface where the Plumbers had set me up a temporary apartment for my stay in Bellwood. It was small and kind of reminded me of the dorms at Yokai. It had three rooms; a living room, a kitchen and a bedroom. I was quite happy to find that a television was included in the living room allowing me to keep up with the news and stuff like that. During my first week, my daily routine was largely the same. In the morning I was picked up by Ben and his partner, Rook (who I later found out was the guy who was with Chris the day I made the Ultramatrix). When we got to the Plumber base, I was forced to take part in back breaking exercises that made Coach Kotsubo's lessons look easy. I was also given a crash course in alien technology that I found hard to understand but somehow managed to make due. Finally, I was given battle training by Ben with my alien forms. The only rule was that I wasn't allowed to change my form once the spar had begun. This was my favourite as it gave me the chance to see more of the awesome aliens that Ben and maybe Christian could turn into. However it was strange…every time I saw a new alien, my eyes would feel funny and I would later find out I could turn into any transformation that Ben had turned into._

_When I talked to Mr. Tennyson about it, he suggested it was probably thanks to the Omnitrix's scanner. Apparently it had the ability to scan new life forms and unlock them for use. When I touched the Omnitrix, I had somehow absorbed this ability, allowing me to scan new aliens. I tried doing this with the aliens I saw walking around the Plumber base, but it didn't seem to work. I guess that they needed to have the Omnitrix symbol on them or something. That or I was somehow doing it wrong. _

_Anyway, this is the story of how I met the person who would change my life forever. It happened on the first Saturday of my stay in Bellwood. It is a time that I will never forget._

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**A week before the events of Chapter 13**

"This guy is called Bloxx." A red, yellow and blue alien said with an appearance similar to a gorilla that was made out of building blocks. He had green eyes and the Omnitrix symbol was in the centre of his chest.

"Cool!" Zack cried, his eyes practically sparkling. He was always excited when he saw a new form. His eyes turning yellow briefly as a new silhouette appeared in his eye. The teen was wearing a black tracksuit with blue flame like designs. "What can this guy do?"

"Let me show you." Prime Bloxx said with a smirk as he drew back his large fist and threw it at Zack, who barely had time to duck.

"Hey!" The Doppelganger teen shouted.

"Battle isn't fair dude." Prime Bloxx said through a smirk as he brought back his fist. "You need to think on your feet if you want to survive in this gig."

"Well then…" Zack replied, a blue aura spreading over him. "Time to roll out." Zack's body elongated and his arms stretched down until they almost reached his feet. A black head-dress appeared and covered his face with blue gaps in each side. His body deconstructed itself, becoming white and bandage like. His upper chest was covered in a large collar like garment with red and black stripes. On each shoulder he possessed a blue eye like gem. He had braces and greaves with silver rims that each had blue gaps in them. On his back were two long bandage like tendrils. The new form had blue eyes with a small black crack in the face mask. The Ultramatrix symbol was on the centre of a blue and white belt around his waist.

"I wanted to try this guy. I believe you called him Snare-oh." The mummy like alien stated in a raspy like voice. "Shall we get started?" With that, Positive Snare-oh jumped back and stretch out his clenched fist towards Prime Bloxx, who merely raised his arm and created a red, dome like shield in order to defend himself.

"Nice try Zack." Prime Bloxx complimented, deconstructing his shield and morphing both his hands into hammers. "But this is how you hit!" He declared, throwing his right hand out in an arc with such speed that Positive Snare-oh was unable to block or dodge. The Lego like alien struck the mummy imitation in the side, sending blue lined form into the training room wall.

Thanks to his bandage like body, Positive Snare-oh wasn't really hurt but he did feel a slight stinging sensation. "Cheap shot." He growled, picking himself of the ground.

"No such thing in battle." Prime Bloxx stated smugly, walking towards him. "You have to be ready for anything."

If he had a mouth, Positive Snare-oh would be smirking. "Let's see how ready you are for this then." He said cryptically as he extended his right arm so that it wrapped around Prime Bloxx's face, preventing him from seeing.

"Hey!" The block alien cried, trying to pry the mummy like aliens arm off his face. "That's cheating!"

"You should be ready for anything." Positive Snare-oh mocked, leaping on top of Prime Bloxx's back. "By the way, call me the forms name when I'm transformed." He then proceeded to continuously punch the gorilla like form. It probably would have been effective if Prime Bloxx's body wasn't so durable. Realising this, the mummy like alien's eyes widened. "This guy probably wasn't the best idea."

"No." Prime Bloxx stated, extending one arm behind him and grabbing Snare-oh around his waist. "Especially not against me." With those words, Prime Bloxx's body deconstructed itself becoming the bottom half of a sphere causing Positive Snare-oh to fall in. Positive Bloxx then proceeded to invert himself and change positions so that he was now in the shape of a dome with the mummy like alien trapped inside. Inside the dome, Positive Snare-oh began punching his captor to no effect.

On the outside of the dome, Prime Bloxx's head appeared. "Sorry dude. There is no chance Snare-oh can break out of here. He's far too weak." It was then that the punching ceased. "Snare-oh?" Prime Zack questioned, following the teens earlier request despite the fact he found it a bit strange to do so. Prime Bloxx proceeded to change the positioning of his head so that it was inside the dome. However, no sooner had he done so was he met with a punch to the face, slightly fazing the block like form.

"Looks like that did something." Positive Snare-oh gloated, preparing to punch again.

"Yeah." Prime Bloxx said, his eyes narrowing. "It made me angry." The multi-coloured alien's body became more rectangular. Slowly, the roof of the rectangular prison began to get lower as the height of Prime Bloxx's prison began to shrink. Positive Snare-oh raised his arms to the side, trying to stop the shrinking alien to no avail. Within the span of half a minute, Prime Bloxx had become a large slab on the floor with Positive Snare-oh trapped beneath it. "1, 2, 3. I win" Prime Bloxx stated, his head appearing on the side of the slab.

"Uhhh!" Came a muffled cry from underneath Prime Bloxx's body. "Geh ouf o meh!"

"Oh right…sorry." The multi-coloured alien said as he quickly proceeded to change himself back into his normal, gorilla like form. Where he had once been, a flattened Positive Snare-oh lay facing upwards. In one motion, the mummy like alien pushed himself of the ground, his body inflating as he did so.

"You win again…" Positive Snare-oh sighed begrudgingly.

"Yep." Prime Bloxx agreed a little smugly. The multi-coloured alien then pressed the symbol on his chest, disappearing in a bright light and reverting back into his true form, Ben Tennyson. "That makes it…what? Eleven to three?"

"Yes." Positive Snare-oh growled.

"Sorry dude." Ben apologised with a smile. "You just can't get one over on the original hero."

The mummy like alien raised one eye in annoyance. Unbeknownst to Ben, one of the tendrils on his back stretched down and snaked along the floor and wrapped itself around the human teen's ankle. With a swift movement, Positive Snare-oh pulled out Ben's legs from under him, making the teen fall over. "Looks like the 'original hero' needs to learn to stop being cocky." The mummy like alien said as he transformed back into Zack.

"I get that a lot." Ben admitted as he got up from the ground. "Anyway, do you want to go again?" He asked as he reactivated his Omnitrix.

"Definitely!" Zack cried determinedly as the familiar blue aura spread over him.

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In the observational area above the training zone, Max Tennyson and Rook Blonko were watching the spar with interest. This had been a regular occurrence for the two over the past week. Despite the fact Christian had given the Plumbers his recommendation for Zack's training, that wasn't enough to give earn Zack their trust. The Plumbers knew about how Zack had betrayed Christian at the academy after acquiring his new powers and how his mind had been altered due to the overflow of power that came from the Ultramatrix.

Max always preferred to be on the safe side. He could see that Zack had a good heart but there was no guarantee that he wouldn't turn on them. He was a possible threat and he was getting stronger every day. Max had tried to contact Azmuth but apparently the ancient Galvan didn't feel like picking up the phone.

In the meantime they were continuing with Zack's training, giving him only the basics until they could be sure he could be trusted. "What do you think of Mr. Orion, Magister?"

"He definitely has talent." Max admitted, watching as the spar began again; Ben as the form he called Fasttrack and Zack as his version of Rath. "He will make a great Plumber someday…if we allow him to continue that is." The old man realised that Azmuth may want Zack to remove his Ultramatrix, if it were possible. He knew how much the old alien hated copies of his device. "Take him home Rook." Max ordered. "I'll try and contact Azmuth again later."

"Yes Magister Tennyson." Rook said as he went to comply with the older man's request.

As Rook left the observation room, Max couldn't help but wonder what other surprises they would be in for.

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**Deep Space**

Within the confines of the never ending darkness that is space, a lone star cruiser made its peaceful way through the void. Suddenly, an explosion ruptured from beneath it as a small, single star ship flew at high speeds away from the vessel. It was silver in colour and appeared to be half an oval in shape. The craft was equipped with two small turrets with the cockpit between them. The ship had a single pilot, smirking to them self about the small get-away they had managed to accomplish.

Just as the pilot was about to activate the after burners, the whole vessel shook as their craft was shot from behind. Turning on the censor, the pilot caught sight of five other vessels, much similar to theirs, in pursuit of their own.

Gritting their teeth, the pilot began taking an evasive manoeuvres. Their ship barrel rolled around the incoming attacks, missing the beams by metres each time. However, their pursuers were relentless, constantly firing in the hopes that one of the beams would hit their target.

Finally, after deciding that their first method of attack wasn't going to work, the pilot's pursuers took a new approach. Two hatches on their vessels opened up to reveal immobilizer missiles. As one, the four vessels fired their missiles. In response, the pilot completely cut the engines of their ship, spinning it as they did so. As soon as they were facing the right direction, the pilot let off a barrage of energy beams from their own turrets.

As skilled as they were, the pilot was unable to destroy all of the incoming missiles. One managed to avoid all of the pilot's attacks and strike the vessel dead centre, leading to a small explosion. Inside the cockpit, the pilot let loose a feminine scream as their ship shook vigorously.

From the smoke, the small ship slowly drifted out, blue sparks of electricity shot across the vessel's hull. Inside the cockpit, the pilot was trying and failing to bring the ship's engines back to life.

"No!" The pilot declared, furiously flicking switches and pulling on the various levers in front of them. "I did not come this far to be taken back now!" As the other ships began to close, the pilot decided to take one last ditch effort. Diverting all left over power to the main thrusters, the pilot threw forward the biggest lever to their left hand side.

Energy began to build before the ship was thrown forward at an incredible speed, creating a perfect ring of blue energy, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

On board the cruiser, a tall humanoid in demonic-like armour and a cape who oddly resembled a human being with medium length greyish hair, the exception being a long, thin scorpion-like tail was receiving news from the team he had sent to retrieve the runaway pilot. "So she escaped." He stated before turning to the members of the crew that surrounded him. "Track that ship!" He ordered. "We cannot lose her!"

"Yes Commander!" The man's crew shouted as they got to work, rapidly typing on the computer screens in front of them.

"We must retrieve her at all costs!"

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Zack stared up at the sky with the greatest interest he had in a very long time. After his spar with Ben, the teen had been taken home to the apartment he was borrowing. When he had gotten back, the teen changed out of his exercise clothes and was now wearing the Security Committee coat he had acquired during his time with them, however he had long since edited it to suit his 'unique' fashion sense. The coat was still black and possessed its hood but now it had blue and red flame like designs on the cuffs and on the base of the coat. The seams were lined with a green material. Underneath, Zack had chosen to wear red shirt and also white tank top underneath that. He also possessed blue trousers and trainers on his legs. Miraculously, the teen had also managed to get a pair of black leather gloves on his hands despite the Ultramatrix preventing it. The only conclusion would be that he had used his powers to simply phase them on.

Anyway, after a spot of dinner from the supplies left for him and after a quick wash, Zack had decided to go up to the roof and stargaze. Ever since he had learned about the existence of aliens. Zack had become fascinated in everything that surrounded astronomy. He wanted to go out there and explore the vast reaches of the stars. That was his dream and hopefully one day he would be able to make it a reality.

Zack knew he had a lot he had to answer for and he was happy that he now had the chance to make up for his mistakes. Sighing, Zack began to get up. It was getting late and he had another day of training the next day. After the teen and had gotten up, he made his way to the roof entrance. However, just as he had opened the door; a loud, high pitched screech sounded from the sky.

Wheeling around, Zack's eyes widened to see a massive ball of flames plummeting from the heavens. The raven haired teen watched as the flame enveloped object descended into Bellwood's general area. Finally, with a loud and thunderous crash, the object crashed into the woods just outside of the town.

Zack was dumbfounded, something had actually just crashed down to Earth. Could it be alien? Dear God he hoped so! Excitement flowing through him, Zack knew he needed to find out. Stepping back away from the edge, a silhouette appeared in the teen's eyes. Suddenly a blue aura began to spread over his body as it began to transform. His body became ghostly pale and his arms slightly extended, his fingers elongating to become more claw like. Black cracks began to spread over his body and his legs joined to create a long wispy tail like appendage. His right eye disappeared as the cracks that had appeared on his body spread up to his head. Grey chain cuffs formed on his wrists and waist whilst another cuff formed around his neck like a collar. Chains then spread down to his chest to the Ultramatrix which had formed within another cuff in the centre of his body.

"Ghostfreak!" The new alien rasped in an eerie voice. Over the past week, Zack had grown attached to this form, loving how cool it was due to his ghostly attributes. The ghost like alien was glad that his transformation wasn't as bright as Ben's or Christian's. There were most likely Plumber agents stationed to watch him in order to make sure he didn't sneak out. Fat lot of good that did them.

Turning himself invisible, Positive Ghostfreak began flying through the air undetectable to the human eye. After a few minutes of flight, the ghostly alien came across what he was looking for.

Far out into the woods Positive Ghostfreak came across a large, freshly dug trench that was littered with flaming parts of metal and debris from whatever had crashed into the ground. When Prime Ghostfreak had come to the end of the trench, he found something that made his one eye widen. Lying in ruin was the remains of some kind of space shuttle. It looked like it had once been more oval shaped but now the front was crumpled and what appeared to be silver metal was now black and singed. A glass cockpit was cracked and looked like it would shatter if someone were to even touch it.

"What the hell happened to you?" Prime Ghostfreak asked no one in particular before floating closer to the downed vessel. Becoming intangible, the ghost like alien peeked his head through the cracked canopy of glass protecting the cockpit. However no sooner had he done it was he met with a sight that made the alien teen back track. Lying unconscious in the cockpit was a human looking girl wearing the strangest clothing he had ever seen. It was skin tight, one piece outfit that was mostly white with hints of purple. A small frilly dress spread around her waist. For some reason there was also a small red and yellow tie attached to the collar. The pilot was wearing a helmet over her head obscuring her features but Positive Ghostfreak could see that she had long flowing bubble-gum pink, much similar to his friend's love interest Moka Akashiya (Well, when her Rosario was still on anyway). Another feature that the ghostly teen noticed was that long, black tail with a heart shaped tip.

For a moment the ghostly teen did nothing as he stared at the girl in shock. Honestly…it was a little underwhelming. He was expecting something…he didn't know…a little more alien. Suddenly, something caught the alien's one eye. A female in front of him had blood dripping down from under the underneath her helmet.

It was then that the ghostly alien began to panic. What was he going to do? He had no idea what he needed to do. Only one thing was certain, he needed to get her some medical attention. Floating back out of the cockpit, Prime Ghostfreak allowed a blue aura to spread over him as he transformed into Positive Diamondhead. With a quick punch, the silicon like alien smashed his fist through the glass allowing him to pick up its pilot. With another quick change in forms, Zack, now Positive Astrodactyl, proceeded to fly high into the air, carrying the unconscious pilot bridal style in his arms.

The parrot like alien quickly made his way back to the apartment he was borrowing, landing on the roof before quickly changing back into human form and rushing the girl in his arms to room. After several agonising minutes that felt like hours, Zack made it inside and placed the girl on his bed. The teen then proceeded to scramble around the apartment looking for some kind of medical kit, in his haste he proceeded to trip over a small table to the side of the room. After literally fifty seconds of intense searching, the teen doppelganger found what he was looking for in the cupboard under the sink. Opening it up, Zack rushed back to his 'patient' and began working. First, he attempted to remove the helmet that covered the girl's face. Unfortunately it seemed that the fashion statement didn't want to come off. Hoping that there was some other way to open it, Zack ran his fingers around the edges of the helmet in the hopes there was some kind of button. Luck was on his side as when he slid his fingers around the back the teen came across a small square like groove. Hoping for the best, Zack pressed it only to be met with positive results as the helmet hissed and opened slightly.

The Doppelganger teen wasted no time in removing it so he could inspect the damage. However he when he looked at the girls face he was in for quite a shock. She was absolutely gorgeous and was almost, if not as beautiful as Moka. It was a bonus she looked his age. Shaking his head in order to rid himself of the thoughts, Zack got to work looking over the girl. He quickly found the source of the bleeding, a small cut of the side of the pinkette's head that she had miraculously gotten despite the fact she had been wearing a helmet. In a small panic, Zack began wrapping a role of bandages he had taken out of the medi-kit around the girls head, probably doing more than he needed to. Next he quickly ran and grabbed an ice pack from his freezer and wrapped it a tea towel before placing it on top of the girl's head.

Finally, Zack pulled up a chair and sat alongside the girl and allowed himself to calm down. Of course once the adrenaline had gone, Zack realised what he had done and the reality of the situation.

"Crap!" He cried, placing his hands to his head. The teen couldn't believe what he had done. He had taken a girl, an alien girl, who was injured to his room! There were like twenty other places he could have taken her. The Plumbers for one. They would know exactly what to do, where she had come from and what she was. This was not good, not good at all. He had practically kidnapped this girl. Zack was having a panic attack. He needed to call someone. It was then that he realised he didn't have any of the Plumber's personal phone numbers and he didn't have one of those Plumber badge things as he wasn't an official Plumber.

He could try the Plumbers that were no doubt watching his apartment but he didn't want to leave the girl unless she woke and panicked as she didn't know where she was. He really wished he had seen one of Ben's aliens that could duplicate itself. Zack knew Ben had them from the stories Ben had told him but unfortunately he hadn't trained against one of them yet.

"What am I going to do?" Zack wondered as he tiredly rested his head in his hands.

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Back near the ruins of the alien girl's ship, three discharges of blue energy filled the area signifying someone was teleporting into the area. Once the lights had faded, three human looking men could be seen. The first man was the commander of the vessel that the alien girl had escaped from. The two other men had tanned skin and were wearing a typical business suit with sunglasses. The first man had blonde hair that reached down to his shoulders and was combed back. He had a large scar running over his left eye. The second man had short black hair and a similar build to the other man. Both men had a thin black tail sticking out from behind them.

The first armoured commander looked at the ship with a worried expression before turning to his lackeys. "Search the ship!" He ordered. With a short nod, the two men began wandering around the crashed vessel, examining the damage and also looking for tracks. Once the two had finished with their thorough examination of the ship, they returned to their commander with grim faces. "What is it?" The commander asked, not liking the expressions of his men.

"Commander Zastin," The blonde began. "From what we have seen, she was within the vessel but she has now disappeared.

"Furthermore," The second man continued. "It appears that she did not leave the ship on her own. The shatter patterns of the glass inside the cockpit clearly points to the fact it was broken into from the outside."

"So she has been taken by a native." The now revealed Zastin summed up. The man placed one of his gauntleted hands to his chin in thought. "It seems that we are not going to be able to find her without assistance. As much as I don't want to…we are going to have to ask for their help in this matter." With a sigh, Zastin lifted a hand to his ear and spoke. "Return us to the ship. And prep a tele communication channel. It is time we contacted the local authorities."

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Zack was currently pacing back and forth in his room as he drove himself crazy, thinking what he should do. On the one hand, it was the right thing to look after the girl, who was currently still unconscious on his bed, but he shouldn't have brought her back to his room where he was alone and anything could happen. Hell, it was quite possible the Plumbers had the place bugged and filled with cameras. Perhaps he should go and see if there was anyone outside. They would know what he needed to do.

However before he could even reach the door, the doppelganger teen heard a light moan come from behind him. Zack whirled around to see that the alien pinkette's eyes slowly flutter open. Acting purely on instinct, Zack dashed across the room to the girl's side. "Hey, hey, hey." He said softly but slightly commandingly. He didn't know had badly she was hurt, but it could be dangerous to get up quickly. "Slow down. You had one hell of a crash."

"Where am I…?" The girl asked groggily. Zack was quite surprised she spoke English. That was a lucky coincidence.

"In…my apartment…" Zack replied, finding it a little hard to believe he had just said that.

Suddenly, the alien girl's eyes shot wide open. She jumped up off of the bed and retreated backwards, running into the wall. She looked terrified. "Who are you!?" The pinkette demanded. "How did I get here!?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Zack cried, waving his arms as he tried to settle the girl down so that they wouldn't attract any unwanted attention. "Please calm down. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a friend, my name is Zack."

"What planet am I on?" The girl continued, seemingly ignoring Zack. "How did I get here?"

"Earth." Zack replied. "I found your ship in the forest. I saw that you were hurt and brought you here. I was the one who bandaged up your head." The girl quickly moved her right hand to feel the vast amount of bandages covering her forehead. "I may have gone a bit overboard."

The girl gave a thoughtful look before giving a nod of gratitude. "Thank you…" She said weakly.

"How did you crash?" Zack asked curiously after a few moments of silence.

The girl looked at Zack with large, questioning eyes. She clearly was uncertain about her position and also about the unfamiliar teen in front of her. However, seeing that she didn't really have a choice, the alien teen finally answered, "I was shot down…" The pinkette admitted. "I escaped from…this ship." Something about those last words couldn't help but make Zack think there was more to this story. "Just before I got away, I was hit with a missile designed to disable my vessel. Just before its systems went down, I managed to overload the engine just enough to get me here, although not safely."

"Well…I'm going to go and call some people who can-" Zack began, about to say call the Plumbers (despite the fact he didn't really have their numbers) when the pinkette cut him off.

"NO!" She cried, surprising the other teen. "No one can know I'm here!"

"Why?" Zack asked, really confused.

Once again, the pinkette thought about what she was going to say before answering. "I'm being pursued." She simply stated, making Zack's eyes widen. "They are probably still looking for me. I wouldn't be surprised if they were already on the planet." This information really worried Zack. Hostile aliens on the planet? Now he really needed to contact the Plumbers. He was about to walk out the room when he felt a tight grip around his left wrist. He looked back to see the girl looking at him with wide, pleading, and beautiful eyes. Zack's face couldn't help but heat up at the sight. "Please!" She pleaded

Zack continued to stare into the girl's eyes for a few more seconds before sighing. "Fine. I won't tell anyone tonight…but tomorrow I have to."

Much to his surprise, the pinkette instantly perked up. With a wide smile on her face, the girl leapt at him, tackling him into the next room. "Thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me!" She said as she sat on top of him, her tail wagging happily.

"Great…" Zack grunted, slightly winded from being tackled into the room. "What's your name by the way?"

The girl gasped, placing a hand to her mouth. "Oh! I completely forgot. I'm Lala." She greeted with a beaming smile.

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Zack and Lala spent the rest of the night chatting, Zack asking her a lot of questions about space and what it was like on her home planet. Lala was all too happy to explain her origins. She seemed the exact opposite to the way she had been when she had first woken up. Lala was quite bubbly and cheerful. Not once since she had started did the girl stop smiling. It was also quite infectious. The doppelganger teen found that he couldn't stop himself smiling either.

After about an hour, the two had learned a little bit about each other. They had both learned each other's name, Lala's last name being Deviluke. Coincidentally, Lala was from a planet called Deviluke. When Zack asked if it was a coincidence the pinkette simply replied her family was 'patriotic'. Upon being asked why she looked human, Lala explained that there were lots of species in the universe that did have a resemblance to humans in some shape or form but Devilukeans were the closest. She told him, and I quote, "Even though I have a tail, that doesn't mean I transform when I see a full moon." Other than that, Lala didn't reveal much else. Zack had tried to ask about why there were people after her but the Devilukean teen always managed to avoid the topic, commonly resulting with her asking what something in the apartment was and her going gaga over it despite the fact the Doppelganger teen believed Lala already knew what it was.

Of course that meant that Zack felt that he had a moral obligation to tell Lala a little about him. He had been told to keep things secret (such as the fact he was a monster and from a school for them and that he was training to become a Plumber) but he could give her the basics. He explained to her that he was from a school for special people and that he had a few adventures there with his best friend, Christian Hawke. Lala was fascinated by the tales. Zack had to limit a few of the details but he got his point across.

He also told her that he was currently being trained to be a police officer, Zack figured the Plumbers were kind of police, and that he was going through gruelling training everyday so that he could become one of the 'police officers'.

Lala of course gave her absolute support for Zack, enthusiastically saying that he could do it. Now that he had a guest, and a girl at that, the doppelganger teen decided that he would be taking the sofa that night and that he would be letting Lala take the bed. The pinkette tried to object of course but Zack wore her down, saying a girl as pretty as her should be treated like 'royalty'. At that point, Lala suddenly became a bit uncomfortable and quickly excused herself and went into the bedroom where she didn't leave for the rest of night. Zack was a little worried about her sudden change in attitude but quickly brushed it off as girl stuff. After a few minutes of thoughtful thinking and getting ready to sleep, Zack decided to hit the hay.

When he woke up the next morning, the doppelganger teen quickly checked on his guest to make sure she was okay. Much to his happiness, Lala had found a way to 'cocoon' within the beds covers and was dozing peacefully with a content smile on her face. Letting out a small content sigh, Zack retreated from the room and proceeded to get ready for the day. After a spot of breakfast and a quick wash, Zack prepared a small breakfast for Lala consisting of four slices of toast and a selection of spreads. He also wrote a small note telling Lala that he had gone to training and that if she didn't want the 'the authorities' he worked for to find her in the apartment she would need to leave soon. Zack left a small amount of money that the Plumbers had given him to buy groceries for her to use, and a quick explanation of how to use it, as well as directions to the nearest bus stations that he knew from when explored Bellwood with Ben and Rook chaperoning him. After also writing what a bus did and how it operated, Zack left and waited outside for Ben to pick him up in his awesome sports car.

He didn't have to wait long as within a few minutes the doppelganger teen heard the sound of an engine roar in his ears. Turning to his right, Zack saw a car driving down the road that looked similar to a Mazda RX-8. It was painted black and had green stripes painted on the hood which led down to a larger strip of green that run around the base of the car.

The vehicle pulled up and Ben opened up the passenger side door from the inside. "Morning." Ben greeted, although his face was grim.

"Hey B." Zack greeted, taking his seat in the car. He noticed his new friend's expression. "What's up?"

"We have a situation." Ben stated before hitting the gas and dashing forward.

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Zack stood next to Ben and Rook in the centre of the Plumber HQ control room waiting for a briefing that apparently Ben's Grandfather had called. The majority of the Plumber forces were present as well and the doppelganger teen was able to recognise a few from the species he had seen Ben turn into however most were foreign to him. Each individual was chatting about what they thought they had been called to hear.

After a few more minutes of intense waiting, Max Tennyson and Magister Patelliday walked to the front of the assembled crowd. "Thank you for coming." Max addressed, sounding very serious. "I've called you here due to a priority one situation." The old man gestured towards a large screen behind which suddenly sparked into life to show a close up of a man who looked like he was in his late twenties. He wore strange bone ornamented armour and also appeared to have some kind of a purple cape attached to the shoulder guards. He had medium length grey hair and a rather serious expression on his face.

"Plumbers of Earth." The transmission began. "I am Commander Zastin of the great Devilukean armada. Recently an individual of great importance ran away from my vessel and fled to Earth." Suddenly a picture of a familiar pinkette appeared on the screen, shocking Zack completely, his entire body stiffening as the transmission continued. "Her name is Princess Lala Satalin Deviluke. She is the eldest daughter of our exalted ruler, Gid Lucione Deviluke. We humbly request your assistance in recovering our princess. We shall be conducting our own investigation following the guidelines set by the Plumbers however we shall remain in contact. Princess Lala is extremely resourceful so do not underestimate her. We hope you will give us your full co-operation in this matter. End the transmission." Despite saying this the transmission did not end. "How was that?" Zastin's voice could be heard. "Not to demanding? I tried not to make us sound too desperate. Wait…why is the screen blinking? You Idiot! The transmission is still on! Turn it off! And don't send it! Now we have to record this thing again…"

It was then that the transmission ended. From the front of the crowd, Max could see that a great number of the Plumbers present had smiles on their faces. "We received that last night." Max explained. "The Devilukeans are extremely dangerous. They may appear human but they each have a tail. They are extremely strong and in rare cases have a special ability. I'm organising search parties for Princess Lala which I want out of here in five minutes! All non-Earth operatives are to report for an ID mask and to hit the streets. Ben, Rook, Zack; report to me immediately."

As the three in question walked towards the Magister, anxiety couldn't help but surge through Zack. What happened if they had found out about him having Lala in his apartment? But then again, Ben and Rook were coming too. Maybe that was so they could arrest him if he tried to run? Either way the doppelganger teen was ready for anything.

"What is it Grandpa?" Ben asked, itching to go out and get some action.

"We found the ship that the princess used to escape her escort in the forest just outside of Bellwood." Max told his grandson, Zack involuntarily flinching. Thankfully no one noticed. "I need you and Rook to go to the crash site and see if you can track down our run away royalty. Wildmutt will probably be a good choice."

"Got it." Ben replied cockily with a cheeky smile.

"We shall leave at once Magister." Rook stated with a nod as he and Ben began walking off towards the hanger area.

"Wildmutt?" Zack asked, very confused. He had not seen this form yet.

"He's a member of the Vulpimancer species. They are dog like beings with the enhanced senses and reflexes. They don't have eyes though. Ben should be able to find the princess quickly with that form, as well as anyone who helped her."

Zack's eyes widened, knowing that this meant Ben would quickly track Lala to his apartment. He needed to tell Max about Lala now.

"Sir…There's something I need to tell you." Zack began only to be interrupted.

"Zack, you should head back to your apartment. You're not an official member of the Plumbers yet so you won't be implicated if we fail to find Princess Lala you won't be held responsible."

"What do you mean?" Zack asked, not understanding what he had just been told.

"Devilukeans are the kind of species to hold grudges. If we fail in finding Lala then they will come back in force and possibly declare war on the Plumbers. You do not deserve to be involved in that. You're too inexperienced to face something like that."

"Sir, I really think you should know-"

"Whatever it is it can wait." Max interrupted. "Head back to your apartment and wait for further instruction."

"But-"

"Relax Zack. Leave this to us." Max said with a smile as he began walking away.

Zack was forced to watch as the commander in chief of the Plumbers walked away from him, leaving the doppelganger teen gawking. He couldn't believe it, they still didn't trust him enough to even listen to him. He knew he was going to need a way to prove himself. And now it was time to do it.

The doppelganger teen turned on his heel and began running towards the hanger bay, his coat trailing out behind him as he did so. When he reached the hangar, Zack's body lit up as the familiar blue aura spread around him. His body became more reptilian, a tail growing out from behind him. Within a matter of seconds, Zack had transformed into Positive XLR8 and was dashing out into the streets with enough speed that anyone who he were to pass would only feel a gust of wind and see a fleeting blue blur.

The velociraptor like alien didn't stop until he had reached his temporary abode, shifting back into his original form as he reached for the handle. He had only been gone for a little more than an hour so with any luck, Lala wouldn't have left yet.

Much to the Doppelganger's fortune, the pinkette was still present, sitting on a chair and staring at the toaster that had been in kitchen area in awe. However once she heard the door open her face turned into one of pure joy as she saw the trainee plumber close the door. She was wearing the outfit Zack had found her in the previous night.

"Zack!" The Devilukean cried happily, bouncing up and running over to him.

"Hello…Princess…" Zack greeted in a monotonous voice, making Lala stop in her tracks. A startled expression now plastering her face.

"What…?" She asked, taking a step back in shock.

"You're the Princess of Deviluke, aren't you?" Zack stated, a face furrowed in to a frown.

"How do you know that?" Lala asked fearfully.

"Your bodyguard, Zastin, sent the Plumbers a request for them to find you. They have someone tracking you right now." Zack explained however it was one word that caught the alien princess's attention.

"Plumbers?" she echoed. "You're a member of the Plumbers?"

"Plumber in training." Zack corrected before getting back to the point. "I need to take you back with me."

"NO!" Lala shouted, jumping back enough to put some distance between her and Zack. "I will not go back!" She cried, looking at the Doppelganger teen with a defiant glare.

"Please Lala," Zack began, trying to calm the girl and make her see reason. "You don't understand."

"No, you don't understand!" Lala interrupted. "I will not give my freedom away!"

'_What?' _Zack thought. What did she mean by that? "Lala…" The teen began before the sound of crashing caught the pair's attention. Turning to Lala's right, they saw that a man wearing a suit and sunglasses had crashed through the window and was standing five feet from them. He had slicked back blond hair and a brutish expression in his face. Zack took notice of the tail the man possessed. "Friend of yours?" Zack asked sarcastically as he cast Lala a side glance.

Begrudgingly the Devilukean royalty nodded. It was then that the unfamiliar man placed a hand to his ear and spoke into an ear piece. "Target located with an Earth teenager." He said with a gruff voice. "Moving to apprehend." Once he had done that, the blonde began walking forwards. "Come with me Princess. It is time to take you home."

"I'm not going anywhere!" Lala refused.

"My Lady, I have been given orders to tranquilise you if you do not co-operate." The man admitted, reaching into his inner suit pocket and pulling out a small dart gun. "I humbly ask that you do not resort me to this."

Zack had no idea what was going on be he was beginning to see why Lala didn't want to go back to her bodyguards. The teen moved in front of the pinkette protectively. "Zack?" Lala inquired.

"Make a run for it." Zack whispered, pulling up his hood. "I'll distract this guy."

"But…" Lala began, knowing that Zack was in danger against a Devilukean soldier who was at least four times stronger than him.

"Just go, I'll find you later and then we are going to the Plumbers." Zack ordered. "Go now."

Lala gave Zack one last conflicted look before making a break for the door. "Stop!" The blond cried, raising the gun. Acting quickly, Zack pushed up the wooden table and used it to block the small projectile.

"Sorry dude, that's not happening." Zack stated, looking around the upturned table to glare at the man from under his hood.

"Stand aside human." The man warned. "This is none of your concern."

"Oh I'm sorry." Zack replied sarcastically, dropping the table and mock gasping. "I was under the impression that this was my apartment you broke in to." As he spoke, a blue aura began to spread over his body, shocking the bodyguard.

"What in the-?" He began, too shocked to finish his sentence.

"And it is my right," Zack began as his body became a dark green and more insect like. Zack now resembled a cross between grasshopper and a mantis. He has a large segmented horn on top of his head and two smaller horns on the sides of his head where the eyes are placed. Each horn has three tiny spikes behind them. There are also three spikes on each forearm and the back of both tarsi on his legs. He has two sharp fingers and a thumb on each hand and two light-coloured claw-like toes on his feet along with one on the back. His chin is quite small with two lines. Under his armpits are gill-like structures. His segmented neck extends from a grey collar that is fused with the torso. He wore blue overalls with three black stripes and a blue tip. The black stripe on his stomach has a large blue hexagonal patch where the Ultramatrix symbol was. "Crashhopper!" The new form cried in a high pitched energetic voice.

The blonde's mouth dropped like a rock. "How did you-?"

"Doesn't matter." Positive Crashhopper declared, rushing forward so that he crouched underneath the bodyguard. "Get out of my home!" The insect like alien cried as he unleashed a vicious axe kick to the blondes jaw, sending him flying through the roof. A wicked smile on his face, Positive Crashhopper jumped up through the newly formed hole after the intruder. Apparently Positive Crashhopper had a lot more strength than Zack originally thought as he had managed to kick the bodyguard all the way to the roof of the building. The suit wearing alien was lying on his back and rubbing his head as slowly got up. "I'd stay down if I were you." Positive Crashhopper warned, crossing his thin arms and smirking.

"But…you're human…"

"Nope." Positive Crashhopper admitted before rushing forward and kicking the blonde human looking man in the face, rendering him unconscious. "I'm a monster." The insect like alien was about to turn and walk away when someone hit him in the back with enough force to send Positive Crashhopper flying forwards and making him land on his front. "Ow!" The alien cried, rubbing his head as he got back to his feet. "Listen pal!" He began as he turned around only to be punched again, once more sending him skidding backwards.

Once he had gathered his bearings, Positive Crashhopper looked up to see a man in an identical suit to the first man standing in front of him except with much shorter, dark hair. "Stand down." The man declared, pulling out an identical dart gun the blonde man had earlier. "Our business is not with you."

"That's what you think!" Positive Crashhopper declared jumping high in to the air…perhaps too high as he then began to plummet back towards the roof. "Bad idea!" The bug like alien cried with wide eyes as the roof approached. However he also noticed that he was directly above the suited man. "Maybe I can work with this." Positive Crashhopper levelled himself out before angling his head so that he was falling head first toward his target. Before the brute could do anything, Positive Crashhopper made contact, head-butting him. Of course it didn't end there. Positive Crashhopper, unable to change direction or make a recovery from the head-butt, landed on top of the man, using him as a crash mat. Positive Crashhopper was the first to recover, lifting himself up and rubbing his large head with his small arms. "You down yet?" He asked hopefully. The answer he received was a punch to the face which sent the monster turned alien falling back. "Guess not…" Positive Crashhopper surmised, slightly disorientated.

"You will not get in our way." The tailed man said, returning to his feet.

"I don't have time for this!" Positive Crashhopper cried, slightly exasperated. "I quite literally need to go and look for the Princess!"

"Princess Lala is our business. You should stay out of it." The tailed man replied, his grimace of an expression never changing.

"Well she doesn't seem to want to go with you!" The bug like alien countered.

Before the man could reply, the pair heard the sound of sirens coming from below them. Looking down they both saw several police cars and a news van at the foot of the apartment building.

"Looks like we've attracted some attention." Positive Crashhopper commented, knowing that he was going to be screwed when he got back to the base. "Just what I need…" He groaned.

"You should keep your focus!" His briefly forgotten opponent growled as he threw a punch at Positive Crashhopper that the insect like alien was only just able to dodge. "I shall defeat you now and continue my search for Mistress Lala."

"You'll have to get through me first!" A reptilian like voice cried which caused both alien to look up to see a third manta ray like creature that was largely red with lightning bolt like stripes coming from each shoulders down to his chest which converged around a familiar green hourglass symbol. The alien had yellow lips which connected to two yellow horns above his green eyes. A yellow membrane was connected to his long arms.

"Ben?" Positive Crashhopper questioned, his eyes briefly turning yellow as the new form landed on the roof.

"Yep." Prime Jetray confirmed with a nod of his head. "Rook spotted the Princess heading down the back lanes behind the building with that commander guy chasing after her." He reported. "We were going to help but I saw this happening and decided to lend a hand. You should go after them. Rook is managing ground control with the police."

"Why are you telling me this?" Positive Crashhopper asked, a little confused.

"We tracked the Princess back here. She stayed here last night, didn't she?" Prime Jetray guessed. The guilty look on the insect like alien's face said it all. "Thought so."

"I didn't know…" Positive Crashhopper began.

"Don't worry, it's not me you need to be worried about right now." Prime Jetray interrupted, raising one of his hands to silence the teen. "I'll take ugly, just go."

"You sure you can handle him?"

"Are you kidding? Animo's worse than this guy." The manta ray like alien replied cockily, angering the Devilukean behind him. Positive Crashhopper had no idea who this Animo person was but he knew Ben could beat the Devilukean.

"Thanks B, I owe you one!" Positive Crashhopper replied as he turned and jumped off the roof.

With a nod, Jetray turned and slapped the Omnitrix symbol on his chest transforming in a bright light to a large red humanoid with four arms and eyes. He wore a sleeveless black jumpsuit with a large green stripe running down the middle. He wore a black, fingerless glove on each hand and a green and white belt around his waist that had the Omnitrix symbol in the centre. He began walking towards the, now worried, Devilukean body guard with a smug expression. "Bet you're scared now." He said as two of his fists into his palms.

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Positive Crashhopper landed safely on the ground before a sudden feeling of exhaustion came over him. He fell to one knee before his features began to become more human as he reverted back into Zack. "Looks like…I was almost…at my limit there." The teen said between inhaling air, using the wall to hold him upright. "I should…hold off on transforming again for a while." After a few more intakes of air, Zack began moving along the alley way, looking for any signs of Lala.

After a few minutes of wondering around the maze like back alleys aimlessly, Zack heard the sounds of two people shouting. Increasing his speed to a light run, the doppelganger teen rushed towards the sounds. When he came to a turn he was in for quite a sight. Before him, in a large clearing between three buildings, was Lala and the guy from the message locked in combat, performing mid-air attacks in order to get the best of the other. Well…Lala was anyway. The princess seemed to have no qualms in attacking her head bodyguard whereas…Zastin, Zack believed his name was, seemed rather hesitant to inflict any harm to the pinkette. The most the head bodyguard was doing was intercepting Lala's attacks and stopping her whenever she tried to make a brake for an exit.

"Why do you continue to persist in running Princess Lala?!" Zastin questioned as he dodged out of the way of a right hook from the alien girl. "What you must do is for the good of all of Deviluke!"

"But it's not what's best for me!" Lala exclaimed throwing another punch.

Zack, who was pressed up against the corner, listened to the conversation with intrigue. What was Lala supposed to do that was so terrible that she would run away from her own escort?

"But by marrying you will ensure the continuation of the Deviluke line!" Zastin cried, shocking the hiding Zack immensely.

'_MARRY?!'_ He screamed in his head. Lala was supposed to be engaged?! That's why she ran away?!

"I will not marry someone I do not love!" Lala responded, briefly looking around for an escape route she could try and take.

Suddenly everything made sense. Lala was supposed to be engaged to some guy but she clearly didn't like the idea of being forced into a relationship with someone she didn't love and made an escape attempt that had landed her on Earth. Zack couldn't help but feel sad for the girl. No one deserved to be forced to love someone.

Lala and Zastin continued to fight, using the walls as springboards to launch themselves at each other. Zack took notice of the fact that despite the fact Lala had Zastin on the defensive, her moves were unrefined and looked like they were more self-taught than trained. If she were to keep this up then Lala would lose long before she would even have the chance to escape. However her determination was making it up for it. Despite the fact she was clearly untrained, the girl wasn't giving Zastin the chance to counter attack at all.

Zack found himself transfixed as he continued to watch the scene in front of him. About a minute passed without him being noticed before Zastin let out sigh. "I'm afraid Princess Lala, that since you continue to refuse to come quietly, I must resort to another method." The next time the armoured Devilukean hit the ground he reached to his belt and pulled out an identical dart gun to the one the blonde man had earlier. Lala apparently recognised it too and quickly moved out of the way just as Zastin fired. The dart sailed past the pinkette, indenting itself in the wall behind her. "This can be as easy as you want princess." Zastin said as he aimed once again. "I ask that you make the right choice."

Lala stared back at Zastin with fierce eyes. "I will not go back." She stated simply.

"Then you leave me no choice." Her head bodyguard said regretfully as he pointed the dart gun directly at Lala.

It was then that Zack decided to take action. With Zastin's attention away from him, the doppelganger teen rush forward before jumping and kicking the armoured alien in the back, swaying his aim so he fired upwards and missed Lala completely. The same couldn't be said for some poor pigeon.

Zastin, who had quickly recovered, turned towards his attacker and scowled at him. "You dare attack a Devilukean guard?" He asked angrily, now pointing the dart gun at Zack.

"I do when they are picking on girls!" Zack responded, not noticing the shocked expression Lala was giving him.

"You shall pay for this-!" Zastin began when the same pigeon the Devilukean had accidently hit moments before fell from the sky and knocked the gun from Zastin's hand. Zack used the moment of confusion to punch the bodyguard in the face, disorientating him.

Quickly grabbing the dart gun from off the floor, Zack proceeded over to Lala and take her hand. "Run!" He said simply as he began hoisted the girl up and practically began dragging her along as they escaped the alley.

"What are you doing here!?" Lala asked as they ran along the back streets that were thankfully empty. "How did you get away from-?"

"The men in black? I'm just resourceful!" Zack answered cryptically. "We need to get you to the Plumbers now! They can help you!"

"They won't be helping anyone!" A calm voice cried from above, causing the two teens to look up to see Zastin standing above them on the top of a nearby building, a sword in his hand that glowed with green energy. In one fluid motion, Zastin leapt from his positon with his sword raised above his head.

"Look out!" Lala cried, jumping out of the way, dragging Zack with her just as Zastin hit the ground.

"Cease this foolishness." Zastin said as he got back into a ready stance. "The princess will come back with me or I shall have my ship burn this world."

"As if that's going to happen." Zack responded in disbelief. "You're bluffing."

"He isn't." Lala stated, making her new friend turn to her with wide eyes. "The Devilukean battle ship has enough weapons to destroy the Earth within a couple of hours."

"And I have been given permission to burn this world if the Princess Lala does not comply." Zastin stated.

Zack was beginning to feel out of his depth. He was alone, no Plumber backup and now had a deadly weapon ready to burn the Earth. He was beginning to seriously consider handing Lala over. However, when he turned towards the pinkette, those thoughts were instantly crushed beneath the sympathy he had for the Lala.

The princess was looking at him with wide, fearful eyes. Her breathing was heavy and small tears were beginning to form. She was terrified, but not for herself. She was frightened thinking about the inhabitants of a world dying because she wanted to follow her heart.

"I'll go…" The girl sighed, her voice breaking Zack's heart. "Just don't kill anyone…"

Zastin nodded approvingly, deactivating his sword and attaching it to his belt. "Very good Princess Lala." He commended. "Come. It is time we go."

Lala, with her head lowered, began taking a few steps forward before she was stopped by Zack walking in front of her. "Zack!" The girl cried in confusion.

"Move aside boy." Zastin warned.

"Lala's not going with you!" The doppelganger teen declared. "She is staying here, under my protection!"

"Are you issuing a bodyguards challenge?" Zastin asked in amusement.

"A what-?" Zack asked with a questioning expression.

"On Devilukean, the bodyguards challenge is when two individuals fight to become the head bodyguard of a royal princess." Zastin explained before smirking. "It is the head bodyguard's duty to ensure the princess's safety at any time."

"Oh yeah!" Lala cried in realization. "I forgot about that." She admitted, making the two guys sweat drop.

"Then you will have also have forgotten that only a Devilukean can issue the challenge." Zastin commented, his words a bit smug. "Unfortunately this boy is not capable of issuing the challenge."

"Then what was the point in mentioning it!?" Zack cried in exasperation. "Never mind…" However that had given Zack an idea. However it all depended on whether he could figure out how to use his new abilities. Acting on instinct, the doppelganger teen swivelled round and grabbed a hold of Lala's arm and positioned her so that he was looking her in the eyes.

"How dare you touch the princess you knave!" Zastin cried in indignation but was ignored.

"Zack…?" Lala asked in confusion.

"Lala…look me in the eyes." Zack told her. "I need to concentrate."

"What…?"

"Shh!" Zack said as he stared Lala into Lala's eyes. The doppelganger concentrated on his new friend's features. His head began to feel like it was on fire as his eyes began to turn yellow. He focused on her hair, her tail, the strength he had seen her have earlier. Slowly, the humanoid silhouette of a new form began to form in his eyes.

Suddenly, much to the two Devilukeans' surprise, Zack's body became engulfed in a blue aura that blocked him from the Devilukeans view.

"What in the-?" Zastin started, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"Zack!" Lala called out in fear. She had no idea what was happening to him. Within seconds of the aura appearing it began to disperse giving the two aliens a clear look at the transformed Doppelganger.

His hair was now pink and he was wearing white trousers and open black waist jacket that covered the upper half of his body. Around his waist was a blue and white belt with the Ultramatrix symbol in the centre. His most distinguished feature was the black tail that he now possessed which had what appeared to be a metal star like appendage at the end of it. His face was quite serious as he glared at Zastin with determined eyes.

"No way…" Lala murmured.

"Impossible…" Zastin gasped as Zack's new form began to move.

"Woah!" He cried enthusiastically, completely ruining the atmosphere. "I can't believe that worked! I've been trying to do that for ages!"

"Zack!" Lala cried, catching the boy's attention. "What happened to you!?"

"I used my powers to somehow scan you and become a Devilukean." Zack explained. "Did I not mention that I can transform into aliens?" The princess shook her head. "Probably something I should have brought up, huh?" The princess nodded. "Sorry about that." He then turned to glare at Zastin. "You said that only a Devilukean could issue a bodyguard's challenge, well I'm a Devilukean now."

"I-it doesn't work like that." The head bodyguard objected. "You were a human before, it doesn't make the challenge viable. Therefore I shall just take the princess and go."

"No you won't!" The new form stated indignantly.

"Yes I will!" Zastin responded.

"No you won't!"

"Yes I will!"

"No you won't!"

"Yes I will!"

"Yes you will."

"No I won't!"

"Ok!" The new form stated happily. "C'mon Lala let's go." He said as he took Lala's hand and began to walk away, leaving a confused Zastin behind.

"Wait!" The armoured Devilukean cried, making the two stop. "Listen here you lousy human!" He cried furiously. "I am Zastin! The Devilukean king's right hand man and the best swords man on Deviluke! It is my mission to return Princess Lala to Deviluke and I shall accomplish that!"

"Then you will have to go through me," The new Devilukean started before an uncertain look grew on his face. "Uhh…what should I call myself?" He then turned back to Lala. "Got any ideas?"

Lala's eyes widened upon being put on the spot. "Uh…Majin…?" She offered hopefully.

"Majin" The new form tried. "I like that." He admitted. "Okay! From now on this form is called Majin!" As he said that the other two Devilukeans sweat dropped at Majin's cheerfulness. Apparently Zack had somehow adopted Lala's playfulness when he transformed. "So anyway, I challenge you to a bodyguards challenge!" He cried pointing at Zastin.

"I already told you, you can't!" Zastin declared.

"I'm the princess and I say he can!" Lala chimed, sticking her hand up like a student begging for the teacher's attention.

"P-PRINCESS LALA!" Zastin cried with his eyes bugged out.

"You heard the princess, let's fight." Positive Majin said happily as he jumped in place with his fists raised. "If I win then you leave the planet and Lala stays on Earth. We'll deal with her dad later."

"Fine!" Zastin finally agreed. "And if I win then Princess Lala comes with me and I kill you for crimes against the Devilukean royalty!"

"Whatever! Can we fight now?!" Positive Majin whined.

"By tradition, we shall fight when-Agh!" Whatever Zastin was about to say was cut off when Positive Majin punched the Devilukean in the face.

"Enough yapping more fighting!" Positive Majin shouted as he rushed forward. Unfortunately, Zastin was ready this time. The armoured Devilukean jumped high into the air, avoiding the attack before swivel kicking Positive Majin in mid-air.

"Take that!" He cried happily as Positive Majin hit the ground. "You may have somehow turned into a Devilukean but you have no idea how to use your body effectively."

"I know enough." Positive Majin growled as he picked himself back up. "I won't let you win, Lala's freedom is on the line!" Unbeknownst to the two, Lala had a small tint of red on her cheeks.

"That's very nicely put." Zastin told the teen, drawing and activating his sword. "But Princess Lala will be coming back with me." The pair dashed forward again, Zastin swinging his sword and Positive Majin throwing his fists. Of course the younger of the two aliens was forced to be on the defensive. It was quite obvious that being hit with Zastin's sword would be a bad thing, (Obviously because it could cut him in two) but he held on, ducking underneath the blade whenever it came or dodging to the side. As much as he dreaded to admit it, Zastin was quite good with a sword. "Hyah!" The armoured Devilukean cried as he brought down his blade from over his head. With wide eyes, Positive Majin jumped back just as the blade passed the area he had once been.

Deciding to try a different tactic, Positive Majin cried, "Some bodyguard you are! You couldn't even keep the person you're supposed to be protecting from running away!"

Zastin's eyes narrowed with anger. "Be silent!" He bellowed, swinging his sword in an arc that Positive Majin was only just able to dodge under.

"Not to mention the fact that you can't even hit me!" Positive Majin mocked with a cheeky grin. "This is just embarrassing!"

"SHUT UP!" Zastin yelled as he once again swiped his sword in the general direction of his opponent.

"Angry?" Positive Majin asked with a smirk as he delivered a swift punch to Zastin's gut. "Don't make any mistakes now." He told the older alien.

"I could say the same to you." Zastin growled as kicked out, hitting Positive Majin in the chest and making the teen fall back.

"Good hit…" Positive Majin admitted as he caught his breath. "But having the armour is way unfair. You have a sword and armour, offence and defence."

"I came prepared." Zastin stated cockily, readying his weapon.

'_I have no chance beating this guy in a fist fight.' _Positive Majin thought. _'If only I had time to train with this guy.' _Desperately, Positive Majin looked around him for anything he could use to take out his opponent. Unfortunately he found none. For a back alley it was surprisingly clean and didn't have anything that he could use as a weapon. Focusing once again on his opponent, Positive Majin tried to find any weakness or gaps in the armour that he could use to his advantage. Once again he found none. The only area that was exposed was Zastin's head. Deciding that it was his best shot, the monster turned alien began working on a new strategy as he dodged the assaults of his sword wielding opponent.

Positive Majin continued to dodge, waiting for the most opportune moment for when he could strike. "Stay still you cur!" Zastin cried as he thrust his sword in an attempt to impale Zack.

"So you can slice me with your glowing green sword thingy?" Positive Majin asked childishly. "I don't think so!"

"You don't understand! Princess Lala's engagement is important for the continuation of the Devilukean royal line!" Zastin shouted, momentarily stopping his assault.

"But it's not what's best for me!" Lala suddenly cried, catching the two fighting male's attentions. "I don't want to marry someone I don't love! I wish to be with someone who loves me for me and not my title as a Princess!"

"Lala…" Positive Majin whispered, truly feeling sorry for the pinkette.

"My lady," Zastin began, his face solemn. "I understand your wishes, however you have found none of your suitors acceptable. Your seventeenth birthday is quickly approaching and then you will be entering our planets politics to help assist your father. I hope just as much as you that you can find someone who will love you but until that day I must follow your father's orders which is to bring you home," He returned his gaze to Positive Majin and narrowed his eyes. "No matter who stands in the way."

"And I won't allow my friend to be bullied into something she doesn't want to do." Positive Majin countered, getting back into a fighting stance.

With those words the two combatants rushed forwards at high speeds, closing the distance between them in seconds. Zastin once again thrust forward his sword whilst Positive Majin cocked back his fist. When the two finally came together, from far away it appeared that Zastin had impaled Positive Majin whilst the latter had punched the former. After a few seconds of agonising silence, the outcome of the brawl became clear. With a loud gasp, Zastin toppled over, his sword in hand, onto the ground and fell unconscious. Positive Majin, who now had a small gash on his right side which was bleeding, stood back up on weak knees. "I…I won…" He said tiredly as he his body was re-enveloped in a familiar blue aura, when it faded, Zack was back as he was supposed to look, blood now beginning to stain through his clothes.

"Zack!" The familiar voice of a certain pinkette cried as the teen began to fall over. She reached him just before he hit the ground. "Are you okay!?" She asked, her face plastered with worry as she faced him.

"Well…I'm bleeding…" Zack pointed out with a small, tired smile. "Cool…new form huh?"

"How did you even do that?" Lala asked in absolute awe as she tried to stop the small amount of blood by placing her hand over Zack's wound.

"Can we…cover that later?" Zack asked, wincing slightly as he spoke. "I was just…cut with a sword…"

"Oh…sorry." Lala agreed as she helped Zack step forward, the two walking further into the alley ways. "What about Zastin?" The princess asked, casting a sideways glance to the unconscious Devilukean.

"Let the Plumbers deal with him when we find them." Zack managed to say. "I'm sure…they will be more than happy…to pick him up." Another small smile then appeared on his face. "So…I'm your bodyguard now, right? I mean…I obviously won considering I'm the one still awake."

"Uh-huh." Lala confirmed with a nod.

"So…what are my duties as a bodyguard?" The Doppelganger asked cheekily.

"You can find out later." The pinkette replied. "We need to get you some help first." She told him.

"Great…um…do you know where we are going?" The injured teen inquired.

"…no…"

"Neither do I."

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**And there you go. I hope you enjoyed this. I'm a little unsure about it myself as this was my first time writing with Zack as the main focus so I hope I did well. Three chapters of the summer arc are done and now there are only three to go. **

**I shall explain what happened to Zack, Lala and Zastin next chapter. I just thought this would be a good place to leave off. Next chapter we will have Vilgax and a new OC villain who will be Zack's arch enemy. That should be good hopefully. **

**I hoped you liked Majin (Designed by Lewamus Prime). He has all the abilities Lala and also possess one other power that will be exercised in the second series so you have a while to wait for that one. **

**Once again I'm sorry this took a while to post but it is kind of hard to write when you only have one hand accessible to you. Thankfully it's better now so there's no need to worry. Anyway, please leave your reviews as I like to know what went well and what could be improved. I hope you enjoyed this and I shall see you next time. **


	17. Chapter 16

**Hey guys! I'm back with the new chapter. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and I guess I should say Easter now too. Before I say anything else I am really so very, very sorry about the extremely long wait but my life has been quite hectic recently due to the pressures of school and family life as well as working towards being able to drive not to mention writers block, which is a bitch. I honestly hate myself for it taking this long. I hope this chapter makes up for the wait.**

**Just two more until the end of the summer arc! For this chapter we are focusing on Zack again. I hope you enjoy the chapter as much as I did writing it and I hope that you leave your reviews so I know what I could do better and what went well. Also if you are confused upon a matter regard the authors note at the bottom as that has the information about the changes. **

***IMPORTANT!* Also, Christian's Omnitrix was based on Ben's so that means Ben has the evolution feature on his Omnitrix. Remember, Ben's aliens that could go ultimate will look like they do in UA and AF with the exception of Swampfire which also means I'm making a slight change to chapter 9.**

**This chapter takes place just before the events on the Witch's Knoll. In retrospect I probably should have written this and the last chapter first.**

"**..." Speech**

'**...' Quote **

'**Hi' Thought**

"**Learn your place!" Inner Moka through Rosario**

**Feedback=Christian**

**Positive Feedback=Zack**

**Prime Feedback=Ben **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but Christian, Dashslicer, Ultimate Crabdozer and the idea of Ironmonger's species, everything else belongs to their own creators. **

**Alien Watch in a Monster School**

**The Warlords Cometh**

Three days

It had been a three days since Zack had managed to defeat Zastin and became Lala's, the Princess of Deviluke, new head bodyguard. After leaving the alley, the Princess and the limping Plumber-in-training blindly staggered around the backstreets of the completely foreign Bellwood. Luckily, Ben and Rook, who had just finished handling the situation at Zack's apartment with the reporters, had found the two runaways and had the other two, now unconscious and badly bruised, bodyguards in tow. Apparently Ben had used a form he called Gutrot to make everyone forget there had ever been a fight.

As soon as original Omnitrix bearer had seen the state Zack was in, he transformed into Fasttrack, rushed him back to the Plumber Headquarters, and basically threw him into the medical area to have his bleeding side taken care of by the medical staff. About a quarter of an hour later, just after the medic had finished applying bandages to Zack's side, Lala came bursting into the medical bay and gave the Doppelganger teen a bone-crushing hug that made Zack glad he was in the medical bay.

Apparently after Ben had taken Zack to the medical bay, Rook had driven Lala and the three Devilukean stooges to the base. As soon as Lala had gotten out of Proto-Truk, she had demanded to know where Zack was before rushing to him.

Long story short, Lala had to make a very reluctant and annoyed transmission to her father to tell him that she wished to remain on Earth. After at least an hour of negotiation and lots of promises on Lala's, Max's, and Zack's part, the King permitted Lala to stay on Earth until her eighteenth birthday. Until then, her wedding plans were put on hold and would continue to be held off until a date that would need to later be confirmed.

It wasn't exactly the complete freedom Lala longed for, but she was ecstatic none the less. However Lala's father did have some conditions. Firstly, Lala would have to attend some sort of education in order to learn more about the world she was living in. Secondly; Zack, as Lala's new bodyguard, would be required to be with Lala anywhere she decided to go, a condition neither party had a problem with. Finally, Zastin, as punishment for losing to a 'human', would have to remain on earth and work for the Plumbers whilst ensuring Lala's safety. He was still designated as a bodyguard, even if Zack had taken his previous position as the head.

Zack of course, was given a punishment for hoarding a princess and not telling his superiors. However, anyone could tell that he had gotten off lightly. He was given twenty four hours of monitor duty to make up for his breach of protocol.

Other than that, life had returned to normal. The Devilukians, minus Lala and Zastin, had left the planet and returned back to their home planet. Zack was continuing his Plumber training, gaining a new form every day, much to the teen's delight. Zastin was a bit of a pain though. Ever since the fellow members of his species had left, the man had been in a pit of despair. He constantly dragged himself around the headquarters with a half dead expression, a shell of his former self. That didn't stop him from instantly perking up when he was around Lala though. Zack always found it amazing how he managed to do that. Other than that, Zack's Plumber life was normal. He returned to his daily routine; waking up early in the morning, going to training for excruciatingly long hours before returning to his apartment, and making dinner. However there was one main change to his day. Lala was now with him pretty much twenty four-seven.

Unfortunately, as much as he tried to replicate what he had done before, Zack wasn't able to scan any of the other aliens on the base. After speaking to the, less than helpful, Blukic and Driba, it was assumed that scanning Lala in order to be able to transform in to Majin was most likely a result of either Zack's emotions at the time or the fact he was doing it with someone he had formed a bond with. But honestly the two Galvin had no idea and so it could have been anything.

Eventually, Lala was given residence in the same apartment complex as Zack, the pair now living in adjoining rooms so that Zack would be primed to jump into action if anything were to suddenly happen. This however led to awkward situations in the mornings when Zack would find the Devilukean Princess snoozing happily next to him, apparently having slipped in during the night. Of course, after the dramatics were over with, Zack would make breakfast for the two, something Lala always looked forward too and then proceed to head to Plumber headquarters for his regularly scheduled training. Once it was completed, Zack and Lala would return home, where the Doppelganger teen would make dinner before the pair retired for the night. This went on for a few days.

And that was when everything hit the fan.

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**Deep Space (several days before Lala's arrival on Earth)**

Out in the freezing cold, dark confines of space, a single warship made its way through an asteroid belt in a far-off star system away from the Earth. The warship was extremely large, easily the length of three football pitches and it had a largely brown and red colour scheme. The front part of the ship resembled a tuning fork with a control tower towards the back. Electricity fluctuated between two curved prongs at the back of the ship. Orange and black pods stood out on the sides of the ship, as well as on the control area and on the two prong-like features at the front of the ship.

Inside the command centre at the back of the vessel, a large, imposing figure stood at the helm. The figure was at least twenty feet tall with dark red armour attached to his legs, torso, and shoulders. Black metal cylinders protruded from his massive arms. Any exposed flesh was a sickly green with red vein-like lines running down his arms. Several tentacles hung down from his face, giving the alien the appearance of a beard. Some kind of respirator was around the alien's face helping him breathe. Malicious, blood thirsty red eyes narrowed in anticipation for what he was searching for.

This was the being known as Vilgax, former intergalactic warlord and conqueror of ten worlds. After his humiliating defeat to Ben Tennyson two years prior, the fallen dictator had long since lost his empire, infuriating the villain when he learned of its fate. He had been trapped on Earth for a year, slowly regaining his strength until he could escape the wretched planet he had been marooned on. Finally, after months of incarceration pretending to be a god, the warlord waited patiently for his strength to return so that he could wreak the vengeance he so desperately craved.

And how close he had come. He had absorbed the power of an omnipotent being/demon named Diagon he had been pretending to be, and thus making him the most powerful being in two universes (maybe only to the Celestialsapien). He had destroyed a human national monument to get into a Plumber base to face his eternal foe. However, just when victory was within his grasp, his triumph was ripped away when Tennyson used the power of the sword, Ascalon, to take away his newfound power.

Thankfully, the bane of his existence had been too distracted by his friends to see the warlord escape. By some miracle, he had managed to find a space craft, which allowed him to leave the putrid planet that had been his prison and made his way back to his home planet where he was forced to fight to re-establish his control over the planet and began rebuilding his forces.

However, over his past battles with the infernal Omnitrix bearer, Vilgax had finally realised something. The reason Tennyson always won was due to the fact he had allies assisting him in battle whereas he had none. The closest he had ever come to defeating the human was when he had assistance, whether it be a mutant amalgamation or a corrupted Galvan with an identity problem. Therefore, the evil warlord had decided to search out a being as strong as himself who he could either persuade or control to assist him in his evil agenda.

After about two months of searching, Vilgax was unable to find anyone he believed worthy of being his accomplice. That was when he decided to look off-world. He spent days confined in the archives of his planet, searching for a being that could rival him. Finally, the vicious warlord found what he was looking for.

A young warrior who had fought for control of his planet a hundred years ago, had come close too, defeating all who opposed him until he had been defeated by the planet's dictator who was of equal strength but had more experience. The rogue warrior had been placed into a special type of prison pod that would keep its inhabitant alive but also force him to remain conscious his every waking moment. A living hell that would drive anyone mad.

Vilgax was fairly certain he would be able to convince this warrior to join his cause. There was only one complication: He was the one that had imprisoned this warrior. However, precautions were in place in case any 'implications' were to occur.

"Lord Vilgax." A synthesised voice said from behind the warlord, making him turn to see one of his many identical battle drones standing below him. It was the size of an adult human and had a humanoid-like appearance with orange and black armour and had six yellow eyes on its face. On its back was a large bulge that looked like some kind of backpack. "Our long range sensors have picked up an abnormality within the asteroid field." The drone reported. "From the readings we have received, it appears to be the pod in which you have described."

"Intercept it and bring it aboard." Vilgax ordered. The drone nodded and after making sure that it wasn't going to receive any more orders, returned to its peers and gave them the command it had received. Turning back to observe the vastness in front of him, Vilgax strained his eyes as he looked for what the drone had described to him.

Sure enough, just beyond the line of sight, there was the dull shine of light reflecting off of metal. If it weren't covered, a cruel smile could be seen creeping on to Vilgax's face as he turned and left the command centre of his ship, making his way towards the cargo hold where the thing he sought would undoubtedly end up.

"Alert!" The voice of one of the drones sounded over the intercom. "Tractor beam has been initialised. Retrieval of unidentified object is now in effect. Prepare for opening of airlock."

The former warlord let out a growl of annoyance. He had no care if the airlock was going to be opened. Nothing was going to stop him from witnessing the arrival of his new peon/weapon. The evil warlord continued on his path, disregarding the warning that had just been broadcasted. No sooner had he entered the cargo hold did the metal doors open to reveal the vastness of space, the air that had previously been present, automatically began being sucked out, causing an unbelievably strong pull. Vilgax stuck out his arm, grabbing a hold of a bar that was attached to the wall. Tensing his arm, Vilgax resisted the pull and managed to keep his feet on the ground. However, he was more focused on watching the large, wide, and cylindrical metal pod be pulled into the confines of his ship by a red beam that was shooting out of a large gun near the cargo bay doors. Within seconds, the pod was inside the cargo bay.

Slowly, the force of the pull began to recede as the cargo bay doors began to close. Once the doors had finally closed, Vilgax let go of the bar and began walking towards the pod, half a dozen droids entering the bay through one of the side entrances as he did so. At his slow pace, the droids quickly overtook their master and reached the pod first, lining up in two lines of three.

Three droids held an item in their hands. The first held a black mechanical collar with a red lights, the second a remote, and the third a strange saw. With nary a care, Vilgax sauntered up to the pod and admired the Vilgaxian craftsmanship. With stolen Galvan technology, his people had managed to craft the perfect torture device for those who wished to conquer and destroy. The pod was plain silver and with one circular window that was darkened from the outside so the occupant of the pod could watch the universe move on without them whilst never having anyone be able to see them. Frost covered the pod due to its duration in the sub-zero temperatures of space. To the side of the pod, there was a key pad.

"Open it!" Vilgax commanded, crossing his arms in impatience as one of the droids moved to respond. Approaching the keypad, the droid wiped away some of the frost before inputting a code. However, there was no response.

"Lord Vilgax," The droid began, turning towards the warlord. "It appears the pod is not res-"

Whatever the droid was about to say was cut off as a large fist punched through the droid's head and hit the key pad behind it. The now sparkling, beheaded droid fell to the floor as the warlord retracted his fist. "I will have what I desire!" Vilgax cried. As if he had actually inspired fear into the machine, there was a small beep and the pod doors began to open, shattering the ice that covered them.

Within seconds, the pod was open and its lone occupant was visible. It was a Chimera Sui Genersis male, wearing nothing but a brown cloth to cover himself. His arms were bound by shackles connected to the sides of the inside whilst his head was limp, looking down with his eyes closed. Long tentacles grew down his face like a massive beard. Despite his ragged appearance, the alien had a muscular build, a positive side effect of having his body stuck in stasis. If it weren't for the shallow breathing and the rising of the alien's chest, it would look like he were dead.

"Release him." Vilgax ordered angrily. The one who possessed the saw-like device stepped forward and moved it towards the restraints. Activating the saw, the droid began its work of cutting through the restraints that held the warrior. Within a minute, the first restraint was broken, allowing the warrior's right arm to fall. The droid quickly moved on to the second restraint, cutting through it with the same precision it had with the first. Within the same time as the first, the second restraint was broken, allowing the occupant of the pod to fall to his knees. The warrior was clearly conscious to some degree otherwise he would have fallen over.

A small silence fell on the cargo bay, the only sound was the shallow breathing of the warrior. Finally, Vilgax spoke. "Arise warrior!" He ordered. "Look upon the one who has saved you and pledge your loyalty."

At the sound of the former warlord's voice, the warrior's eyes cracked open to reveal tired, blood red eyes. He looked up to see Vilgax towering above him…and his eyes gained fierce life.

"You!" The warrior cried, lunging forward and tackling Vilgax, catching the former warlord off guard as the two squabbled on the ground, the warrior with his hands around Vilgax's throat. "You did this to me!" The warrior screamed. "You left me in a fate worse than death!"

"You seem to have forgotten your place!" Vilgax cried as he brought his fist around and punched the warrior in the face, causing him to fly off of the evil alien. Vilgax quickly got back to his feet before moving to hold down the warrior, stopping him from recovering. "That was very unwise." He taunted. "You forget that I was the one who originally put you in that pod!" He then turned towards the droid holding the collar. "Restrain him!" He yelled.

"Let go of me!" The warrior yelled, struggling against Vilgax's intense grip. "Let go of me, damn you!" As the warrior yelled, the droid holding the collar rushed forward and applied it onto the thrashing warrior. A small beep alerting everyone that the collar had been attached.

"Activate it!" Vilgax yelled to the droid holding the remote, who immediately complied, pressing the big red button on the remote. Suddenly, electricity began to spout out of the collar, sending jolts of electricity through the warrior's body…making him scream.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" The warrior stopped resisting Vilgax's hold and throwing his hands to his neck, tried desperately to remove the object causing his pain. "What!...Have!...You done!...To me!?"

The former warlord stood up straight and merely looked down upon the warrior with a sick look of pleasure. "This is what you shall receive whenever you show incompetence again." Vilgax told the warrior. "You are now my property."

"Damn…you…" The warrior struggled to say through the pain. "I…will…kill you…"

"You're welcome to try." Vilgax challenged. "However if you do, I assure you…that collar will quite literally blow your mind." He threatened, inwardly cursing the Earth-slang he had picked during his incarceration on Earth. With a wave of his hand, Vilgax ordered the droid holding the remote to cease the flow of electricity coming through the shock collar. Almost instantly, the warrior relaxed, the release of pain was ecstasy. It didn't last long as the weakened warrior felt a large hand clasped around his throat and lifting him up into the air. The warrior's eyes cracked open to see Vilgax looking him directly in the eyes. "You shall be my greatest weapon. And with you…I shall destroy Ben Tennyson." The evil alien then turned to his droid forces. "Prep for surgery." He said before turning back to look at the warrior with an ominous look that made the warrior feel something he hadn't in an extremely long time, fear. "It is time for our guest to be officially welcomed."

"No!" The warrior cried. "No!" And then all the warrior knew became dark.

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The sound of heavy footsteps brought the unconscious warrior back into the land of the living. His eyes flickered open as he made an attempt to scan the room around him. It was dark and uninviting, tables were placed around him with an assortment of medical equipment. However the thing that worried the warrior was that the equipment was stained with green blood.

The warrior tried to move his body but nothing seemed to respond. He couldn't feel anything beneath his neck. What had happened to him?

"It is of no use." A familiar voice sounded, one that the warrior wished to never hear again. He looked up to see Vilgax, the bane of his existence, looking back at him.

"What have you done to me!?" The warrior demanded, once again struggling to move his body.

"You have been enhanced and are now far more powerful than you ever were before." Vilgax answered stepping closer to the warrior.

"What do you mean?" The warrior asked, not understanding what the former warlord meant.

"Try moving your body." Vilgax challenged, no doubt a devilish smile under his respirator.

Once again, the warrior attempted to move his arm with absolutely no luck. "What have you done to me?!" The warrior once again demanded.

"You should still be able to move your neck." The former warlord remarked. "Just look down."

The Warrior, afraid of what he would find, cocked his head downwards to see a metal chassis. "What…?" The warrior questioned, utterly confused. Moving his head to the side, he realised that his arms were encased in some sort of armour. He still couldn't feel fingers, let alone his arms. "What is this?"

"An automated cybernetic armour designed, when it is turned on, to respond to your thoughts." Vilgax explained, looking the warrior in the eyes. "So to answer your question…you are no longer fully Chimera Sui Genersis."

"You don't mean…" The warrior gasped, finally understanding why he was unable to feel his body.

"Yes." Vilgax all but hissed. "You are now a cyborg."

"You bastard!" The warrior cried, infuriated. "How could you do this to me!? You defeated me! Cast me off my home! And now you've butchered me as well! Do you even know my name?!"

"You are Fitzwrath." Vilgax answered without hesitation, surprising the warrior. "A hundred years ago you challenged me for dominance of Vilgaxia and lost for which you were punished with banishment."

"You…remember me…" Fitzwrath remarked quietly, honestly surprised that the former warlord remembered anything about him. Then again he had sought him out.

"I always remember those who were under my care." Vilgax admitted. "Even if they did try to overthrow me. It does not give me satisfaction to punish the citizens of Vilgaxia but I must do what I have to in order to ensure my rule goes unchallenged."

"And that gives you the right to do…do this…to me!?" Fitzwrath cried, his eyes wide with pure hatred.

"No, I would never do this to a citizen of Vilgaxia."

"Then why?!" Fitzwrath yelled.

"Because you can no longer be considered a citizen!" Vilgax yelled, silencing the warrior. "You are no better than that traitor Myaxx and therefore I have no qualms in doing this!" There was a moment of silence between the two which allowed the former warlord to collect himself. "You will need to train using your new cybernetics. Once I have ensured that you can be controlled you will be able to move, and then my vengeance will come on that thorn in my side, Ben Tennyson!" Vilgax then moved to a control panel next to the table Fitzwrath was stuck to. After pressing a few buttons, Fitzwrath felt himself slowly falling backwards as the table he was attached to move to make an examination table. "It is time to finish the job." The former warlord sneered.

"Vilgax!" Fitzwrath cried in vain as he looked up to see various deadly tools attached to a variety of mechanical arms.

"Be silent." Vilgax ordered as he began to walk away from the screaming warrior. "Do not resist, it shall soon all be over."

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**Earth (present day)**

Zack rested atop of the apartment complex with a happy smile plastering his face. At his side was the human looking alien, pinkette ball of joy that was Lala. The two had decided to come out to look at the stars, Lala desperately wanting to look for the one she believed to be Deviluke. Both teens were in their casual attire, Zack in his flame designed black coat and Lala in the flight suit that she had arrived to Earth in. Since her arrival, the pinkette had bought other clothes to wear but she preferred to wear her current attire as it was a piece of home she could hold on to.

"There!" the princess cried, pointing up at one of the many stars that shimmered in the sky. "That's Deviluke!"

"Awesome." Zack remarked, looking to where Lala was pointing with stars literally in his eyes. "Do you think you'll ever go back there?" He asked curiously.

"Maybe one day." The pinkette admitted. "But first I want to see all that's out there. I want to explore and experience new things. It's one of the reasons why I ran away."

"I thought you didn't want to get married to someone you didn't love?" The doppelganger teen pointed out.

The alien princess merely shook her head. "That was part of the reason but what I really want is to explore." She explained.

"That's quite cool." Zack agreed, his smile never fading. "Well as your friend and bodyguard, I'll ensure that your wish is fulfilled." He declared with a cheesy grin.

Lala turned to look towards the Plumber in training with wide eyes. "Thank you!" She cried as she pulled Zack into a bone crushing embrace.

"No…problem…" The teen managed to wheeze as the air was squeezed out of him. When Lala finally released him, Zack proceeded to regain all of the lost oxygen in a sequence of long breaths. Once he had finally recovered, the pair decided to do a little bit more star gazing before heading back inside. However the conversation quickly turned other things.

"I hope I get to meet your friends soon." Lala remarked. Zack had told her all about Yokai Academy and his friends seeing as she would be coming there with him when the summer ended. "Do you think they'll like me?" She asked a little nervously.

"I'm sure they are going to love you." Zack said quickly, not wanting his new friend to feel insecure. "They accept anyone into the group rather quickly so you shouldn't worry. I think you'll get on really well with Yukari. She's a genius, like you, and is only twelve years old." One of the things that Zack had learned about Lala over the last few days was that Lala was a genius and loved to tinker with the various electronics that were around their apartments. Her last tinkering led to Zack's toaster becoming slightly sentient, somehow making him a full course breakfast before finally exploding when the doppelganger teen had commented he had only wanted cereal. Another thing the Plumber in training had discovered was that Lala's inventions commonly ended up exploding or going wrong in some way.

However that didn't stop the princess, she always kept a smile on her face and tried again. It was one of the many things Zack liked about her. Smiling, the doppelganger teen turned and began to head inside. "C'mon!" He called as he opened the door. "It's time we got some food."

"Coming!" Lala cried cheerfully as she turned away from the sky and quickly hurried after the doppelganger, her mind drifting away to the delicious food that would soon fill her belly.

As she past him, Zack couldn't help but smile. Everything seemed to be going right for him. Hopefully now nothing was going to spoil his summer now. He was sure it would be smooth sailing from there on out.

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**Deep Space**

The last drone fell to the ground sparking hideously before finally being put out of its misery when a large purple and black armoured foot stomped upon it, crushing the robot instantly.

From the observation area, Vilgax smiled from behind his respirator with smug satisfaction as he watched the shadowed figure sheath its blade. His new weapon was ready for the real fight.

Placing a claw on the intercom, the former warlord announced, "All hands, prepare for battle. Set a course for planet Earth."

'_Soon…vengeance will be mine.' _

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Zack stood facing Ben, a distance of ten meters between them, within the confines of the training room. Both boys wore confident smirks and were poised to begin their regular sparing session. Inside the observation area; Max, Rook and Lala looked down upon the boys, the latter with stars in her eyes.

"Are you ready Zack?!" Ben called, activating the Omnitrix and choosing the first Icon on its display.

"Bring it on!" The Doppelganger teen challenged, a blue aura surrounding him. "I'm gonna win for sure this time!"

As one, the two teens transformed. Zack's body became more rock like as blue fire began to protrude from his body and cobalt blue magma filled in the cracks that his new exterior possessed. Two small bursts of flame flowed from his shoulders and a larger flame engulfed Zack's head, giving it a skeletal like look. A crack like scar was clear over the forms left eye. The Ultramatrix symbol was on the forms chest. "Heatblast!" The form cried before getting into a fighting stance.

Ben on the other hand was engulfed in the familiar green that followed whenever an Omnitrix user transformed. When it faded, a four foot tall blue skinned lizard stood proudly on four legs. Its arms, back and legs were covered in skin tight black clothing. Its open chest was covered in a white shell. Four pointed blue fins were present on its back coming down from his head. The Omnitrix was present on the centre of his chest. "Arctiguana?" The new form questioned with a Jamaican accent. "I wanted Big Chill."

"Problem B?" Positive Heatblast asked in his raspy voice, the flames around his eyes briefly flashing yellow.

"No…" Prime Arctiguana sighed, looking extremely annoyed. "I'll manage." He said as a more determined look entered his eyes. "Let's get this show on the row!" He declared before quickly inhaling a massive breath before exhaling a massive cerulean ray towards his flamed opponent.

In response, Positive Heatblast dived to the side, narrowly missing the icy assault. "That's a little cold, attacking when I wasn't expecting it." The flaming alien pointed out as he returned the attack by sending a large amounts of flame towards Prime Arctiguana. Acting quickly, the reptilian alien used his ice attack to launch himself upwards and away from the flames.

"Whereas you don't appear so hot on your feet." Prime Arctiguana pointed out as he landed on his feet.

"That's just because I'm new with this form." Positive Heatblast responded, sending out another volley of flames. "Although this guy is kind of like Swampfire so that makes things a little easier."

"You'll get that sometimes." The ice alien replied before meeting the flames head on with a frosty attack of his own. The colliding attacks creating a large amount of steam. "Some of the alien's powers are similar which makes them easier to use the first time."

"Good to know." Positive Heatblast noted, narrowly missing another blast of ice that was sent towards him by ducking down. "I'll remember that…huh?" In his thoughts, the flaming form failed to notice another ice attack come towards him. It hit his dead centre in the chest. At first, the ice that hit his body evaporated instantly creating a great amount of steam. However then the cold began to overtake the intense temperature of the flame alien's body and soon Ice began to spread itself around the forms body, the flames around Positive Heatblast's head and shoulder dying instantly. "Cheap shot." The monster turned alien growled as his whole body was finally encased.

It was then that Prime Arctiguana stepped forward with a cocky expression on his face. "I thought that may cool you off. I guess this spar is ov-"

*Crack*

The ice alien's smile dropped as he looked at the frozen Pyronite only to see the icy prison was giving of steam and that the icy was cracking. From within the confines of the ice, Positive Heatblast's arms could be seen shaking. Finally with a burst of flame, Positive Heatblast shattered the ice holding him and sent a powerful flamethrower towards the original Omnitrix user who was too shocked to block or even dodge.

The attack struck Prime Arctiguana in the chest. Due to the force and the close proximity of the assault, the ice alien skidded back several meters. When the attack came to a close, black scorch marks covered the ice alien's body. "Don't sell me short just yet." Positive Heatblast said with a grin. "You'll find I'm pretty hot to handle."

"You're right." Prime Arctiguana admitted, shaking his arm to relieve the burning sensation. His shell was tough but he could still feel the heat. "Time I started taking this more seriously." As he said those words, Prime Arctiguana exhaled a large icy blue ray that was sent hurtling towards Positive Heatblast.

The teen turned Pyronite acted quickly by raising his arms and sending out his own blast of intense blue flames. The two rays met head on, the temperatures of the different beams cancelling the other out. No sooner had they met did a smokescreen of steam fill the training room, obscuring Prime Arctiguana from view. Positive Heatblast would have been obscured however due to his 'natural glow' he could easily be seen through the steam.

The fiery alien strained the glowing holes it called eyes to find his reptilian opponent. Suddenly, Positive Heatblast felt a blow to the back of his head as he was thrown forwards by the blow and landed on his hands and knees. Growling, he quickly jumped back and sent a wave of flames in the direction the blow had come from. Unfortunately due to the blanket of steam, he was unable to see whether he had hit Prime Arctiguana. The answer came quickly when this time he felt a blow to his right side with enough force to send him flying to the left. Knowing that Prime Arctiguana was using the steam to perform hit and run attacks, Positive Heatblast decided to once again even the playing field. Raising his hands, the flaming rock like alien created a ball of cerulean flames which he allowed to grow until it was five times the size of a football (Soccer ball if you're American). Once he was sure the flames were the right size, Positive Heatblast sent them rocketing into the air. The effect was immediate. As the ball of flames flew higher into the air, they illuminated the training area through the steam, allowing the flame alien to make out the silhouette of a certain ice alien for a few seconds.

With a cocky smirk, Positive Heatblast ignited blasts of flames from his hands which propelled him forwards. As he approached his intended target, Positive Heatblast cocked back one of his fist before throwing it forward. He knew he got the intended result when he felt something connect against his fist and an audible smack. Prime Arctiguana was sent flying across the room before hitting the wall. Luckily the tough shell around his body took most of the blow but it didn't mean it didn't still hurt. As Prime Heatblast began to step towards him the steam began to clear allowing both teens to see again.

"Nice trick." Prime Arctiguana praised as he got back to his feet. "But I'm not down yet."

"Bring it on." Positive Heatblast challenged as he got back into a fighting stance.

The two were about to charge at each other again when suddenly the whole room turned red and an alarm began to blare. The two transformed teens shared a look before Max's voice could be heard over the Intercom.

"Ben, Zack, get up to the command centre now!" He ordered, the concern and fright in his voice in his voice was evident.

"Why Grandpa!" Prime Arctiguana asked, pressing the Omnitrix symbol on his chest and reverting back into his human form.

"We are under attack!" Was Max's only reply.

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Inside the main control room, Max and all of the Plumbers that were active in the base were gathered around the largest screen watching a large blip on the galactic radar get closer to the thing that represented the Earth. Zack stood near the back with Lala, Ben and Rook. The pinkette was still wearing her flight suit. Each one of them possessed a worried expression. The tension was extremely thick as Max began talking.

"An hour ago, this ship entered our atmosphere." Max began, his face solemn. "We sent a message requesting the ships nature and intent. We received no reply. Following standard procedure, a plumber ship was dispatched to discover what this vessel was. As of twenty minutes ago, that ship, and the Plumbers piloting it, went dark." Many of the Plumbers in the room lowered their heads in sadness, knowing what 'going dark' meant. Zack noticed that Ben had clenched his fist and was slightly shaking. "Before it went dark, our ship managed to send an image of the vessel back to us." Max pointed to the screen beside him as an image flared on the screen. No sooner had the image appeared did the room go silent. The image showed a large ship that had the appearance of a tuning fork with a brown and red colour scheme. Orange and black pods were present all over the vessel. The Plumbers knew this vessel, it was one ship every non-Earth being wished to never see in their life time, the ship that brought death where ever it went; The Chimerian Hammer. However there was one person in the room who had no idea what this ship was or what it signified.

Zack was relatively calm, being a Plumber in training meant that he was unfamiliar with the ship. He was about to ask Ben when he felt someone grip on to his left arm. The doppelganger teen looked to see Lala holding on to his sleeve. Her eyes were wide and glued towards the screen. She was afraid, Zack could tell by the fact he could feel her arm shaking. The Doppelganger teen was about to ask her what was wrong when he noticed that Ben and Rook were also wide eyed, their teeth gritted. If he looked closely, he would have seen that the original Omnitrix user's eyes were filled with hatred.

"Guys, what is that ship?" He asked, not entirely looking forward to the answer.

"That vessel is known as the Chimerian Hammer." Rook answered, being the first to overcome his shock. "It is the ship that belongs to one of the most maniacal and feared criminals in all of the universe and also…the arch enemy of Ben."

"Vilgax." Ben growled, his teeth clenched. Zack could tell that Ben and this Vilgax person had a history. "How long until he gets here?" Ben called out to his grandfather.

"If our estimate is correct, two hours." Max replied.

At those words Lala spun and pulled Zack into a hug, as if he could protect her from what was going to happen. The Devilukean Princess was very afraid. Zack was lost for a minute before he soothingly started rubbing the back of the girls head. He didn't a lot about this Vilgax person but judging from her and everyone else's reaction, he knew one thing.

Hell was about to descend.

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For the next hour, Zack watched as Plumbers rushed to and fro preparing weapons and assault ships in the hope of stopping or, at the very least, slowing the ships arrival. Lala, who was sat in a chair beside him, looked very worried. After Max had begun telling people what they were supposed to be doing in the approaching crisis, Zack had taken Lala to the side to question her on just who Vilgax was. Of course she had heard all about Vilgax, probably every alien in the galaxy had. She knew all about how ruthless he was, his ferocity in battle and also how he had burned the worlds that dared to defy him. The Devilukean Princess also knew about how the former warlord had a personal vendetta against Ben Tennyson, who had humiliated him in battle several times.

Zack could now understand the disdain that Ben had held when he said Vilgax's name. He was about to ask another question when he heard Max calling and Lala over. The pair quickly made their way over to the older Plumber where they saw him, Ben, Rook and Zastin standing together. "Yes, what is it sir?" Zack asked politely, wanting to help in any way possible.

"Zack, your job is to take Princess Lala and the other recruits to the training area and form the last line of defence. Zastin will be coming with you to assist." Max stated, ignoring the annoyed look the former head bodyguard had on his face.

"What?!" The Doppelganger teen replied indignantly. He was kind of hoping to be on the front lines. "I can help! I have the same powers as Ben, I'm just as useful as he is!"

"However you lack the experience to even think about going up against someone like Vilgax." Max explained. "If we fail in stopping Vilgax, you will be the only hope this world has. Just pray it doesn't come to that."

Zack was going to complain when he felt someone once again tug on his arm. He looked to see Lala looking at him with pleading eyes. The Doppelganger teen knew he couldn't get her involved in this and she also that she would be safer if he was there to protect her. With a defeated sigh, he turned to Max and gave a half-hearted nod. He proceeded to walk away to gather the other recruits, Lala and Zastin following closely behind him with the latter looking extremely annoyed as he had to work with the one who had ruined his life.

Once Zack had gone, Ben looked to his Grandfather and asked, "Should we call Christian in? If we're not going to have Zack on the front lines then it may be wise to have another Omnitrix user here."

"Christian is on the other side of the planet right now." Max pointed out. "Even if he used Astrodactyl to get here it would take a few hours, more since he will have to stop to let the Omnitrix recharge. For now we'll just have to rely on you and pray Vilgax doesn't get past us."

Ben nodded before he and Rook went to go and help the other Plumbers prepare. Max let out a sigh, exhausted from the whole ordeal.

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**Miles above the Earth's atmosphere**

Vilgax looked from the observation room of his ship down upon the planet that had been his prison with unconquerable malice. How he looked forward to rendering nothing more than an uninhabitable rock. Behind him, a shadowed figure walked up to him. Due to the darkness of the shadow enveloping him, only the figures shape could be see however it appeared he was just as tall Vilgax and with each footstep there was an audible thump as metal met against metal. The only features that were clear were the glowing crimson eyes that penetrated through the darkness of the shadows

"Master." The figure began, his voice sounded forced and more like a growl. "We are within striking distance of the planet. Should we send the capsules?"

Nodding, the former warlord turned and made his way out of the observation room, his new controlled lackey following closely behind. "It is time for the Plumbers to fall." The conqueror growled. "Now we go to war."

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**Back on Earth**

"Sir!"

Max turned to see one of the many Plumbers in the familiar black and white full body armour that all lower ranked operatives had to wear sitting at one of the computer desks monitoring the Chimerian Hammer. "Enemy vessel has launched several projectiles which quickly enclosing on our position!" the operative cried out, anxiety clear in their voice.

Max's eyes widened in shock before he rushed to the intercom. "All hands, brace for impact! Repeat! All hands, brace for impact!"

Throughout the base the Plumbers hit the deck, nary time to wonder why before the base began to shake and the sound of explosions began to sound around them. On the surface, two dozen large, slim, brown and red, drill tipped rocket propelled pods rained down upon the Max's Plumbing cover shop, reducing it to rubble within instants before drilling down through two hundred meters of dirt straight into the Plumber base. Some pods landed and stopped whereas others continued to drill through the various floors. Within minutes there were three pods on the top eight floors of the base.

The Plumbers shakily made it back to their feet, shaking of what had happened and trained their weapons upon the pods, unsure whether to fire as they could have been protected by some kind of force field. After a minute of anxious silence, the pods all opened up as one with a hiss of steam. However, much to the Plumbers surprise, the pods were empty, nothing was inside of them.

In the command centre, Ben, Max and Rook cautiously approached the three pods in front of them, not convinced that they could be nothing within. Suddenly, when they were only two metres away, a blue energy formed within the pods before a drone holding a large blaster stepped out of each pod closely followed by a second, and then a third and then a fourth. Within moments, there was a force of thirty armed drones in the command centre as well as the seven floors below. Barely giving the surprised Plumbers anytime to react, the drones opened fire. Max would have been hit if not for a sudden green flash behind him and a silicon based life form made of extremely durable crystal. His body is overall a purple color, with several dark lines and spots. His hands and face were magenta with one green eye in the centre of his head. He had two large crystals sticking out of his back, with another shard sticking out of each shoulder. On the top of his head was a long crystal horn. He wore a green and white jumpsuit that went down his torso. The Omnitrix symbol was on his right pectoral. "Chromastone!" the form called as he protected Max from the blast, absorbing it before firing back at the drone as a rainbow coloured, destroying it with one blast. It was only a short lived victory though as another droid took its place.

"Fall back!" Max ordered as he, Prime Chromastone and Rook backed up, the latter two providing cover fire for the magister. Once Max was safely behind one of the control terminals he took out a small pistol looking device. In one movement he leaned over the side and began firing alongside his grandson and Rook. The Plumbers on all floors the drones had appeared launched an immediate counter attack. A war had broken out within the base and the Plumbers had been taken by surprise. However now they were fighting back, taking back their base by force. The drones weren't that durable and were easily destroyed after a few hits from the Plumber weapons, the problem was that any drones they destroyed was automatically replaced by a new one coming through the teleporter pods.

Back in the command zone, Max, Rook and Ben, now transformed into Prime Four Arms, and the other few Plumbers in the command centre were beginning to take control of the situation however they were still vastly outnumbered by the number of drone's teleporting in. It seemed that Vilgax had an infinite number of them, impossible of course but there's human nature for you, assuming the worst.

"They just keep coming!" Prime Four Arms complained, destroying two drones by smashing them against each other.

"We must destroy the teleport pods!" Rook cried out, using the Proto-Tool's blaster function to shoot any Droid that Prime Four Arms missed.

"Ben!" Max shouted out, blasting another droid as it appeared from one of the teleport pods. "You know what to do!"

"Got it Grandpa!" Prime Four Arms responded with a smirk as he smashed one last droid before slamming his bottom right hand on to the Omnitrix symbol on his belt. After an intense flash of emerald light, Prime Four Arms was replaced with a little red gremlin looking thing wearing a black and green, mostly black, aviator's uniform with a green cap and goggles on top. The Omnitrix symbol was on a green line that was going around his waist. "Jury Rigg!" The new form cried in a high pitched, manic voice with a crazed look in his eyes. Suddenly, with blinding speed, the little red gremlin made a beeline through the droids, dismantling at a ridiculous pace as he did so. Soon there was a trail of broken machine parts leading up to the teleporter pod all the while chanting "Break!" at the same time. Upon reaching the teleporter pods, Prime Jury Rigg stopped and gazed at the first pod with wide, wonder filled eyes. "Oooh…" The form said with admiration before springing in to action and dismantling the first teleporter pod. "Break! Break! Break!" Prime Jury Rigg chanted as he tore out electronics and wiring, reducing the pod to little more than scraps and spare parts before moving on to the next pod, and within a few seconds the next.

Within moments the Plumbers in the command centres began to make head way as they began eliminating the droids left and centre. Soon there was nothing left but a heap of scraps. Max and Rook stood with their blasters raised at the forefront of the group, panting heavily as they checked there weren't any stragglers playing dead. Prime Jury Rigg on the other hand was in the middle of the scraps pile throwing around the various bits of metal like a kid in a candy shop, giggling menacingly.

Once he had caught his breath, Max turned to the intercom and shouted, "All Plumbers, destroy the teleport pods! Repeat, destroy the pods!" With the words of their commander, the Plumbers throughout the base began shooting at the pods. At first it looked like it would work but then, much to the Plumbers horror, the blasts were just absorbed by the machine without making so much as a dent.

"Sir," One of the Plumbers stated, talking into his communicator. "It appears the pods are protected from energy beams, we can't touch them!"

Max grimaced, realising the complications that would mean. Fortunately, judging by what had happened minutes before, the pods didn't seem to be impervious to a physical assault. "Continue to hold off the droids. I'm sending in reinforcements." With that the old man turned off the intercom and look towards his grandson, who was still in alien form. "Ben! Get down to the lower levels! We need you to take down these pods!"

Upon hearing his grandfather's voice, Prime Jury Rigg finally stopped playing with the scarps and saluted. "Got it!" He replied in his high voice. "C'mon Rook." The little alien said, jumping up onto the Revonnahgander's shoulders as the two ran off.

After watching them go, Max turned and sighed. He knew there was still more to come. These droids were the foot soldiers, their commander was yet to come.

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Zack continued to pace around the training room, an annoyed expression on his face. Lala and the Plumber recruits watched the scene with worried expressions, their rifles at their sides, whereas Zastin was leaning against the right wall with his arms crossed and eyes closed. A solemn expression was on the man's face. Above them the sounds of battle raged as the Plumbers fought the incoming droids.

As the sounds began to intensify, Zack started to growl in frustration. "I can't take it anymore!" He yelled, shocking most of the people in the room and even making the astute Zastin raise his head in surprise. "I can help, I shouldn't be here doing nothing!"

"Calm down boy." Zastin remarked, moving from his position against the wall. "We were given orders to stay here and protect Princess Lala."

"Hey!" One of the recruits yelled.

"And the recruits…" Zastin added, although it sounded forced. "We should follow our orders."

"I know, but…"

"If you want to help you should go."

Both Zack and Zastin turned towards Lala, the person who had spoken. "Zack, if you want to help, go. We'll be fine." She added with a happy smile despite the situation. "No one is attacking this floor and even if they were we have Zastin here. Help the Plumbers."

"Lala…" the Plumber in training remarked.

Zastin looked from Lala to Zack before sighing. "I cannot say that I condone this as you are now Princess Lala's head bodyguard." That last part was said as more of a growl. "However if she says you should go, do it. I can protect Lala and the other recruits." He conceded. '_Not to mention that if you leave Princess Lala unattended it will prove that I am the better bodyguard and then I can leave this planet with Princess Lala in tow.'_

"Are we not even here to these people?" One of the recruits asked another getting extremely annoyed that no one thought they could protect themselves. The person he was talking to only shrugged.

Zack looked at Lala and Zastin before nodding. "Thanks guys. I'll be back soon and by then it will all be over."

"Cocky isn't he." The recruit from earlier said to another.

"Shut up dude…" The other recruit whispered.

Making his decision, a blue aura spread over Zack as his body began to transform. Within a few moments he had transformed into Positive XLR8. "Back in a flash." With those words the monster turned Kineceleran rushed off leaving a blue and black streak in his wake, leaving Zastin and Lala behind.

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Vilgax stood examining the battle from his ship. The only reason he had not joined the battle with his new ally was because he was allowing the Plumbers to destroy his droids and teleport pods. He hadn't spent all this time planning for nothing. He had known all about the form Tennyson called Jury Rigg and how easily it could destroy his forces. However in doing so, not only would it drain the Omnitrix's power. It would also leave the boy mentally and physically drained making him much easier to defeat. Turning to his new accomplice, he raised hand as a sign to prepare for the next phase.

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Prime Jury Rigg was having a field day. Since leaving the command centre, he and Rook had made it to the last floor, taking out any teleport pod or droids that stood in their way. With their help, the plumbers had just about taken out the droids on this floor. Soon though, the sounds of battle could be heard from the lower floors.

"What is that?" Rook asked, a confused look adorning his features.

"How am I supposed to know?!" Prime Jury Rigg snapped. "C'mon! We need to get moving on to the next floor!"

"Right." Rook agreed already making his way to the short stair case that led to the lower level. There they found something that shocked them. A blue and black dash was rushing around to and fro, demolishing any droids that got in its way, disassembling them in the blink of an eye whilst the Plumbers stationed on that floor watched on with confused expressions. The identity of the streak was quite easy to work out. Considering Ben was currently Jury Rigg and the only other Plumber Kineceleran, Helen Wheels, was off planet it only left one person.

"Zack?!" Prime Jury Rigg exclaimed.

Hearing the voice, Positive XLR8 stopped briefly to look at his audience. "Hey guys! Don't call me Zack while I'm transformed." He asked before going straight back to destroying droids, Plumber soldiers assisting from behind, most happy just to finally have some support in the battle.

Rook was the first off the two to recover. He gently prodded Prime Jury Rigg in the side before saying, "Ben…the pods…"

Prime Jury Riggs eyes widened with realisation. "Oh right!" The little red gremlin quickly got to work. He rushed forward, using the head of the droid that had just appeared through the teleport pods as a launch pad, Prime Jury Rigg leapt at the nearest pod and automatically began dismantling the machine within seconds. The battle ended reasonably quickly after that with the droids unable to teleport in and Positive XLR8 and Prime Jury Rigg disassembling the ones that had already arrived. Soon all the droids had been dissembled, leaving only the Plumber soldiers, Rook and the two transformed teens. As soon as the battle ended, Positive XLR8 rushed up to Rook and Prime Jury Rigg. As soon as he reached them, a blue aura surrounded the lizard like alien, transforming him back in to Zack.

"Hey guys! That was easy wasn't it?" He said positively, expecting to get a positive response.

He didn't.

"Zack, what are you doing here!?" Prime Jury Rigg shouted as the Omnitrix symbol on his belt began to beep before he was enveloped in a green glow which changed him back in to Ben.

"Yes, you are supposed to be guarding the recruits and Princess Lala alongside Zastin." Rook pointed out.

"Yeah…about that…I wanted to help and Lala said that I should as Zastin was there and would be protection enough…" the Doppelganger teen explained.

"That's not an excuse!" Ben retorted. "She isn't your commanding officer!"

"You are not one to talk Ben." Rook pointed out, earning himself a glare from the original Omnitrix wielder. However before anything else could be said, Max's voice sounded over the intercom.

"All hands brace for impact! Two more pods are incoming!"

No sooner had those words been said did the whole base shake uncontrollably as two more, much larger pods drilled through the floors. Ben and Zack looked up just in time to see one of them come through the ceiling. If it hadn't been for Rook's quick reflexes, pushing them out of the way, both teens would have been crushed.

"What now?!" Zack complained as he looked up to see the giant hole in the floor. "That can't be good."

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In the hangar, the large cover of dust that had been formed from the large pod that had crashed in to the base. Plumbers littered the floor, coughing as they tried to get the dust out of their lungs. Once the cover began to fade, the Plumbers were greeted with the sight of a large spherical red pod covered in spikes. Before anything could be done, the pod hissed and a line of steam spread down the middle length wise before it cracked open to reveal someone no one wanted to see. Sitting upon a metallic throne, in his terrifying armoured glory, was the former war lord that was Vilgax. The squid like aliens blood red eyes narrowed as he looked at the Plumbers. The former war lord slowly raised himself from his seat and stepped out of the pod.

And then all hell broke loose.

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Lala weakly pushed herself off of the floor in order to look up at the object that had just fallen through the ceiling. Though she couldn't have known it, it looked identical to the pod Vilgax was in, spherical and covered in menacing red spikes. Looking to her side, she saw Zastin and the rest of the Plumber recruits all getting back to their feet, the former with his sword already drawn in anticipation for what was to come.

A strange hiss was what brought the pinkette's attention back to the pod that had landed in the room. The pod opened in half to reveal an alien covered in what appeared to be a strange mismatch of armour. Most of its right arm was covered in blue and yellow armour. It four fingers were clawed with yellow blade like tips. Its left arm was covered in darker armour however you could see his clawed four fingered hand. His body was entirely covered in a silver, purple and black chassis that had a strange symbol in the centre that represented a mask. Around its neck was glowing collar that seemed to sparking small amount of electricity every few seconds. The creatures face was covered by a black and silver helmet, however you could see the blood red, and hatred filled eyes. Attached the beings back was a large, long, jagged purple blade with a black hilt that looked like a 'X'.

The creature stepped out of the pod and looked around at his audience…before moving to attack.

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Zack, Ben and Rook stared at the large hole that was now in the floor below them. By the looks of things, it appeared the pod had gone through several more floors before coming to a stop. Before either of the three could do anything, Ben's Omnitrix suddenly began to beep, alerting the user to a transmission coming through.

"If this is about the pod that just entered the base Grandpa, we already know. It near crushed Me, Zack and Rook." Ben answered, holding the Omnitrix up.

"What is Zack doing there!?" Max's voice came through the Omnitrix, clearly annoyed that the teen hadn't followed orders. The Doppelganger teen was beginning to feel a bit guilty however he in his opinion he was justified as he only wanted to help. "It doesn't matter right now." Max continued before Zack could voice his thoughts. "Ben, I need you to get to the hanger now. Vilgax is there and he's tearing up the place!" Ben and Rook gasped in shock. They hadn't expected Vilgax to arrive so soon.

"What about me, Magister Tennyson?" Rook asked, he was confused as to why the old Plumber had not included him in his command.

"Rook I need you to head to the training area. We've lost contact with the Zastin and the recruits."

Zack's heart missed a beat. Lost contact with the training area? That meant Lala and the others were in danger. He should have been there protecting them. Max's voice continued to sound through the Omnitrix but Zack was no longer listening. He was trying fruitlessly to imagine would could have happened. Soon his anxiety reached the level where he could no longer contain it. The Doppelganger teen turned and as a blue aura began to surround him he jumped down the hole that the falling pod had made. "LALA!" He cried as he fell.

Ben and Rook had watched this with bug eyed expressions, not expecting the boy to do something so stupid as to go in on his own. The two partners looked at each other and came to an unspoken decision. Rook would follow Zack whilst Ben would go to deal with Vilgax.

With one last nod, the two split up, Rook jumping down the hole and Ben activating the Omnitrix and transforming in to Prime Big Chill, that looked identical to Christian's version, and phasing through the ceiling.

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Pain.

It was all she could feel, it was all she knew.

Lala hit the ground painfully after having been thrown against the wall. Slowly and with blurring vision, the alien Princess looked around to see Zastin and the Plumber recruits littering the floor in what she begged was only unconsciousness. Things had happened so quickly.

As soon as the creature had exited the spiked pod, Zastin pounced with his sword raised high. Unfortunately it was of little effect as no sooner had the Devilukean warrior gotten close did the armoured warrior swat him away like a fly with his left arm. Lala and the recruits watched in silent horror as their strongest fighter sailed across the room only to find himself imbedded in the far wall, his sword falling from his hand and landing limply on the floor below him.

One of the unfortunate trainees, a pink furred alien who looked a little like a human ape, turned back towards the enemy with a shaky gaze to find that the warrior was looking at him. Terrified he raised his blaster and began shooting. This motion had then proceeded to make all of the other trainees raise their weapons and fire too.

For the next twenty seconds, Lala watched as the enemy warrior was bombarded with green energy blasts that caused a plume of smoke to obscure the enemy from view. Once the trainees had stopped firing, they waited for a few moments whilst the smoke started to dispel. For a few precious moment, the recruits believed they had beaten the enemy. That was until the saw the red glow gleaming ominously through the green and black smoke. As it continued to fade, it became clear to see that the armoured warrior had raised its left, dark purple arm to reveal a compartment that concealed a glowing red gem which was now making a safety shield around the warrior, protecting him from the trainee's blasts.

Everyone's spirits quickly sunk as the warrior lowered his shield and rolled his head. From there it was a blur, the warrior had darted forward, backhanding two trainees with his right arm and sending them hurtling back. He then moved on to two more of the smaller trainees, picking them up and bashing them together before throwing them away in opposite directions. The vicious cycle continued as the warrior moved from trainee to trainee, removing them from the battle within a matter of moments.

Finally, all that remained was Lala, watching helplessly with wide, fear filled eyes. The warrior was slower this time, walking towards her. The Princess had known what was going to happen in the corner of her eye she spotted Zastin's sword. Acting quickly, the Pinkette dashed over to the weapon and picked it up, holding the blade in both hands so that it was pointed at the approaching warrior. The armoured warrior stood in front of the Princess for a moment, just looking at the girl before its eyes narrowed and it swatted away the sword in the girl's hands with a flick of its wrist.

Lala watched the sword as it skidded across the floor before returning her gaze to the hulking figure standing above her. Her eyes were wide with terror until she everything went dark as the warrior struck her with its left arm which sent her flying back into the wall and rendering her entire world black. The girl peeled off and fell to the ground in a heap, her entire body was screaming in agony.

Now that the pinkette was on the floor, she could hear the loud, booming footsteps of the enemy come towards her, however the princess barely had any energy to even try and look up, let alone try to run.

"Ahh!" Suddenly, Lala felt pain flare down from her head as the warrior picked her up by her long hair.

"It was very unwise to challenge me, little girl." The warrior spoke, his voice deep and gravelly but pain could be made out in his words. "You have no idea what things I could do to you."

Lala's eyes were clenched from a mixture of pain and fear, however one name did flow through her thoughts, the name of the one who she wished she had never let leave, the one she knew would be there for her.

'_Zack…' _

"LET HER GO SCUMBAG!" A deep voice cried, reaching Lala through the darkness. The alien princess felt her body sway a bit by what she assumed was the armoured warrior turning around before she heard something collide with the metal chasse of the warrior before she was dropped to the ground.

Opening her eyes, Lala saw what appeared to be a large bipedal figure with yellow pads on his legs, back, fore arms and shoulders. His upper body, under arms and feet were white. His lower body was black whilst a red stripe led up the middle of his body. The Ultramatrix symbol was in the centre of the red stripe. "Zack!" Lala cried happily, small tears of relief forming in her eyes. It had appeared that Positive Cannonbolt had fallen down from the hole that the armoured warrior's pod had made and then used the used pod as a springboard to launch himself at said warrior who was now lodged in the side of the wall.

The transformed teen looked around at his fallen comrades, looking at the devastation that the warrior had caused and his face became enraged. A blue aura surrounded Positive Cannonbolt, transforming him into a tall humanoid being with red skin and four arms. He wore a sleeveless jumpsuit with a red stripe down the middle and a blue and white belt. On his hands were sleeveless gloves with white flame like designs on the back. The alien had a beard and moustache as well as long dark hair done up into a very small pony tail. In the centre of his chest was the Ultramatrix symbol that was supported by four silver bands that went around the forms body. "Four Arms!" The form cried before cracking his knuckles. "Listen buddy, I don't know who you are but there is no chance I'm going to let you get away with what you have done!"

The warrior clenched his right fist before dislodging himself from the wall. He looked down at the monster turned Tetramand with an emotionless expression, mostly thanks to the helmet he was wearing. His eyes quickly settled upon the Ultramatrix symbol on Positive Four Arm's chest. "That symbol…" He began, now acknowledging the teen's previous sentence. "The Omnitrix…you must be Ben Tennyson."

Before Positive Four Arms had a chance to reply, the warrior dashed forward and delivered the alien a fierce upper cut which sent the red alien up into the air. Positive Four Arms thought he heard Lala cry out but he honestly couldn't be sure because a second later he painfully slammed into the ceiling. He remained there for a brief moment before he began to fall. However before he hit the ground, the warrior once again punched him with enough force that he flew across the room and slammed into the opposite wall, making another hole in the room.

"ZACK!" Lala screamed in concern as she ran over to the fallen red alien. Positive Four Arms let out a groan as the princess reached him, clearly disoriented from the beating he had just received. No longer able to concentrate on holding his form, a blue aura surrounded Positive Four Arms before changing him back into Zack and succumbing to unconsciousness.

Behind her, the armoured warrior began to speak. "You are not as skilled as I had heard Ben Tennyson." He began, at this point more talking to himself that anyone. "Vilgax gave you a lot more credit than you are worth. I am Fitzwrath and I shall be the one to send you to the next life."

"I am afraid I cannot allow that to happen!" A calmer voice said from behind the mechanised warrior as something landed by the warrior's feet. Fitzwrath barely had time to look down before the object detonated with Fitzwrath being at point blank range. That blast had enough force to send the titan flying backwards where he landed on the floor with a loud clang, the front of his armour had cracked and scorch marks covered the chasse. Lala looked with an astonished expression to see Rook standing underneath the hole in the ceiling with the Proto-Tool raised towards Fitzwrath. As the armoured alien began to rise, the auto repair system in his armour already beginning to fix the damage it had sustained, Rook declared, "Now you must deal with me!"

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Vilgax was taking great pride as he laid waste to the Plumber hangar, destroying everything in sight that threatened to get in his way. Smoke rose from the vehicles he had destroyed making the room dark and uninviting. The bodies of wounded Plumbers littered the ground like ants. They had thrown everything they had at the former warlord and it still hadn't been enough.

Using one arm to flip one of the remaining Plumber Tanks, Vilgax suddenly felt a presence from behind him. The evil alien's eyes narrowed as the metal gauntlets on his hands began to spark with electricity. Then, with one fluid motion the squid like alien snapped around and grasped at the air. To a normal eye, it would look as if Vilgax was mad until suddenly something began to scream as electricity began to channel through the body of an invisible being. It was then that the pale blue form of Prime Big Chill appeared, his eyes bugged out and pale amounts of smoke was beginning to rise from his form. The torment continued until Vilgax finally loosened his grip and allowed the electricity to cease. In his hands, Prime Big Chill's body went limp as his wings, which had been unfurled, fell. "You tried that against me a year ago child." Vilgax taunted. "It did not work then, did you really think it would work now?" With those words he dropped the Necrofriggian to the ground where it collapsed in a heap and quickly transformed into back into Ben. His T-shirt was singed and had a few cuts in it.

"Too much to hope for wasn't it?" Ben asked cheekily, if not a little tiredly.

"Indeed, and now you are completely vulnerable." The former warlord pointed out, raising his arm to bring down.

"I wouldn't say that." The Omnitrix user replied with a smile and he casually reached for the device on his wrist. "You should know by now that I always have something up my sleeve." Ben was engulfed in emerald light, forcing Vilgax to squint a little before he felt an electrically charged connect with his face. As the flash faded, in Ben's place was an alien that looked closer to Frankenstein than something extra-terrestrial. He has a muscular body and a human nose with dark greyish yellow skin. The form possessed a short black mullet with sideburns. Two green tower-like conductor coils were on its back, green sparks of electricity sparking between the two. It wore black pants with green lines on them, with a triangle dash in the middle that glowed green. Stitch-like lines ran over its arms and body and it had green gauntlets on its hands that showed his fingers. Three gold and green bolts were on its chest and another bolt was on either side of its neck, each one possessing a green line on them. It wore a green and white belt around his waist and the Omnitrix symbol is embedded in the flesh of his right pectoral, with several deep scars protruding from around it.

"Frankenstrike!" The form cried triumphantly, smiling and revealing uneven teeth. However that smile quickly vanished when he realised that Vilgax hadn't even flinched from the attack. Vilgax's expression never changed as he reached up grabbed a hold of the Transylian's right arm with his claw. "Crud." That was all Prime Frankenstrike was able to say before the former warlord threw him like a rag doll over his shoulder and pummelled him into the ground, making a Frankenstrike shaped indent in the floor. The Warlord then repeated the action and once again swung him over his shoulder before crashing Prime Frankenstrike into the ground again. Disorientated, Prime Frankenstrike attempted to reach for the Omnitrix symbol to change form but failed as he was once again flung over the evil aliens shoulder. The cycle continued for ten more seconds before Vilgax tossed the Transylian into the air, jumping after him and punching him straight back into the ground.

When the former warlord landed back onto the ground, Prime Frankenstrike was painfully reaching towards the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. Finally, with much needed determination, the big alien hit the symbol and transformed in a flash of light. When it had faded, in the Transylian's place was a much smaller alien that was primarily white in colour but the most noticeable features was a square appendage resembling an MP3 player behind its back with a port on it - decorated with a 10 symbol and what looks like cassette tapes on his lower legs. It also possessed green circle-shaped indents on the back of his hands. The inside of its mouth is green with lines looked similar to an amplifier. The Omnitrix symbol was present on the centre of its chest. "Echo Echo!" The new form cried, his voice high and scratchy.

Vilgax raised an eye at the form, amused by it. "If you think your Sonorosian form can defeat me then you are sorely mistaken." The former warlord mocked, walking forward without a hint of worry.

"May-be" Prime Echo Echo admitted, reaching for the Omnitrix symbol once again. "But-I-Know-some-one-who-can." Prime Echo Echo pressed down on the symbol causing four prongs to shoot out from the symbol and a green wave to spread across the small alien's body. Prime Echo Echo became taller, his arms and legs growing until he had become human sized, his skin became more metallic and turned blue in colour. His head become oval shaped and gained a more rounded shaped. Circular components were now attached to his shoulders, chest, hands, head and legs. "Ultimate Echo Echo!" The form cried in a robotic, monotonous voice.

For the first time since stepping foot in the Plumber Base, Vilgax became the tiniest bit worried. He knew the ultimate forms were far more powerful than their base forms however he had no idea how powerful this evolved Sonorosian was.

If he could smirk, Prime Ultimate Echo Echo reached up to his shoulders and took a hold of the disks on his shoulders before proceeding to throw them at the former warlord. The disks flew gracefully through the air, coming to a stop just in front of Vilgax. Before the squid like brute could respond, both disks released a barrage of hyper sonic sound waves that were so loud, Vilgax was forced to his knees, using his claws to cover his head and block out the sound, hissing in pain as he did so. If he could, Prime Ultimate Echo Echo would have smirked before he threw more disks towards Vilgax. As before, the new disks stopped in front of Vilgax and joined the first two in bombarding the former warlord with sound waves. After a few more moments of torment, the evolved Sonorosian ceased the attack, returning the four disks to his body before jumping forward and using his enhanced strength to deliver a wicked right hook to Vilgax's face, knocking the recovering alien back to the ground.

"Stay down." The blue evolved alien warned. "It will make this all easier."

The response the alien teen received was both unwanted and predictable. The cylinders on Vilgax's arms suddenly sank into his body, increasing the size of the former warlord's already large muscles even further. Without speaking, Vilgax swiped out his right arm and knocked Prime Ultimate Echo Echo meters into the air. Fortunately it didn't do much as the robotic like alien was able to manipulate soundwaves to steady himself in the air. Not that it mattered because as soon as the teen alien regained his focus, Vilgax had launched himself at him and grabbed the evolved alien around the waist before throwing him into the ground with enough force to create a small crater in the metal floor below.

Prime Ultimate Echo Echo let out a loud groan before looking up just in time to see Vilgax land before him. "This fight is** not** over!" The insane alien growled before moving into attack again.

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Lala watched helplessly from the side as Rook engaged the warrior who had earlier identified himself as Fitzwrath. The poor Revonnahgander was clearly no match for the cyborg alien's impressive strength and therefore had resorted to using a combination of his natural speed and agility to keep clear of the Fitzwrath's now unsheathed sword whilst also making sure to remain clear of the other unconscious recruits, who were still littered around the floor. The Proto-Tool was positioned on Rook's shoulder in sentry mode, the barrel of the weapon cycling round on its own and firing yellow blasts of energy at the hostile alien whenever it got the chance.

Lala knew that if Rook to take one hit from Fitzwrath, it would be enough to render the Revonnahgander completely unconscious…or worse. The battle in front of her would be over when either Fitzwrath was worn down by the constant fire of the Proto-Tool or when Rook would finally be met by the brutal force of Fitzwrath's armoured fist or swinging sword.

It was around this point that Zack, who Lala had moved so that his head was resting on her knees, began to regain consciousness.

"Ohhh…" He moaned as he groggily rose from Lala's lap pillow, his whole body aching. "What hit me…?"

"Zack!" Lala cried happily as she captured the boy in a tight embrace which only served to hurt the boy further.

"Ow! Lala, please let go!" The Doppelganger teen pleaded as he struggled to get loose. Thankfully, Lala quickly let go. Zack was about to say something else when he was interrupted by the sound of a large crashing sound. It was then that the teen's attention was brought to the battle between the two aliens who were oblivious to him. "What'd I miss?" He asked the pinkette with an extremely confused expression.

"AfterFitzwrathhityouyoufellunconsciousandwhenthebadalienwhosenameturnsouttobeFitzwrathwasgoingtokillyouRookshowedupandstartedfightinghimwhileIlookedafteryou." Lala explained very quickly and incoherently without taking in one ounce of oxygen.

"Ok…again please…perhaps a little slower this time." Zack asked with a small sweat drop. Lala repeated her explanation, properly this time, and allowed Zack to grasp what had happened. "Right then…" Zack started once Lala had finished. The teen slowly made his way to his feet and gained a more determined expression. "Time for some payback."

"No!" Lala cried, grabbing on to Zack's coat from behind and using her strength to keep Zack still, much to the teen's immediate discomfort. "You can't! You're still hurt from before!"

"Lala I have to." Zack told the girl, not taking his eyes of the battle. "Neither Christian or Ben would back away from this and I won't either. Rook needs help."

"But you could too!" The tailed girl pointed out.

"Doesn't matter, that's just part of being a hero."

"But Zack…" Lala whined, worried for her friend.

Zack looked around at his fallen comrades and knew that they would get hurt if they remained on the floor. "While me and Rook distract this guy, you get the others to safety." The Doppelganger told the princess.

Knowing there was nothing she could do to dissuade him, Lala finally relented and released Zack before moving to stand in front of him. "Just promise you will come back." She asked, although it sounded more like a plea.

In response, the Doppelganger teen gave the pinkette a cocky grin. "You got it." As he spoke, Zack was once again enveloped in the familiar blue aura as his body began to transform. He dropped down on to his hands and knees as white fur began to spout from his body, his eyes disappearing within it leaving only the red scar where the hair didn't grow. His hands became large paws and his body grew slightly in the process. A tail burst out from his back and a blue collar with the Ultramatrix symbol in the centre appeared around his neck. Within a few seconds, Zack had transformed into the form Ben called Wildmutt.

Since he couldn't talk, Positive Wildmutt made a few incoherent growls before leaping over Lala and dashing towards the fight between Rook and Fitzwrath. Rook had seen the alien hounds approach but fortunately Fitzwrath had noticed too late as Positive Wildmutt leapt on to the back of the cyborgs metal chasee and used his sharp claws to dig in to the metal and keep himself in place.

"Get off of me Tennyson!" Fitzwrath yelled, temporarily forgetting Rook and moving to try and remove the Vulpimancer from his back. However it was in vain as Positive Wildmutt continued to pry at Fitzwrath's back. Rook, using the turn of events to his advantage, removed the Proto-Tool from his shoulder and changed it to its sword mode. The Revonnahgander then proceeded to charge the cybernetic Chimera Sui Genersis with his sword raised. Rook tried to slice at Fitzwrath's armour with little result. Meanwhile, Lala had been doing as she was told, removing the Plumber recruits and Zastin from the danger zone. Thanks to her natural agility and strength as a Devilukean, Lala was easily able to move two or three of the recruits at a time depending on their size. She was two thirds of the way done when Rook suddenly flew into her, having been swatted by a very angry Fitzwrath.

The two rolled together along the ground before coming to an abrupt halt. Rook was the first to recover, picking himself up before pulling Lala to her feet. "Apologies Princess Lala." He said before returning to assist Positive Wildmutt. At this point, the alien dog had made it good way into the cyborg aliens back, but just as he was going to rip out more circuitry, Fitzwrath finally managed to grab a hold of the Vulpimancer by his tail. With a startled yelp, Positive Wildmutt was tossed through to the ground to painfully skid across the floor, knocking Rook over again in the process.

"It will take more than that to stop me vermin!" The cyborg spat, the self-repair system in his armour already taking effect as the damage Positive Wildmutt has done slowly began to repair itself. "It is time I ended this Tennyson!"

Positive Wildmutt tilted his head in confusion whilst Rook gave Fitzwrath a weird stare. "He seems to think you are Ben." The Revonnahgander said to the transformed teen. With a snarl of agreement, a blue aura spread over the Vulpimancer changing him into Positive Diamondhead.

"You need to get your facts straight!" The silicon alien responded. "B's aliens have a green colour scheme. Mine are blue."

Fitzwrath's eyes widened with slight surprise. "You are telling me that you are not Ben Tennyson?" He asked.

"The names Zack Orion!" Positive Diamondhead replied, jabbing his right thumb towards his chest proudly. "And don't you forget it!" The teen noticed that Lala was almost finished removing the unconscious recruits from the room. If he and Rook could distract Fitzwrath long enough for her to finish then he could go all out with Grimlock.

"You are lying!" Fitzwrath accused, pointing his giant sword at the Plumber and Plumber in training. "There is only one Omnitrix! Vilgax was sure of that!"

"That is old information." Rook confirmed for the cyborg with a scowl, not taking his eye off the enemy for a second.

"Say hello to the wielder of the Ultramatrix!" Positive Diamondhead declared proudly. "I even made it myself." He added, technically telling the truth.

It was then that Fitzwrath did something unpredicted, he lowered his weapon. As the pair of teens gawked at the cyborg, Lala began moving the last recruit out of the training room. "My battle is not with you. However as you are standing in my way I must destroy you." Fitzwrath told his adversaries before his eyes one again became fierce. "It's nothing personal." The cyborg warrior claimed before once again raising his blade.

"It never is…" Rook sighed as he readied the Proto-Tool, familiar with the situation he had come to be familiar with during his life as a Plumber.

"Time to kick some ass!" Positive Diamondhead cheered as he morphed his hand into a blade and charged forward.

"I am right behind you!" Rook cried, also charging forward with the Proto-Tool in its sword mode.

The two rushed forward and unleashed quick consecutive strikes against their enemy. They succeeded in forcing Fitzwrath to step backwards however failed in managing to land a hit on the cyborg squid alien as he used his own sword to parry the blows.

Lala, having finally managed to remove the recruits and Zastin from the wrecked training room, watched in awe as Positive Diamondhead and Rook pushed back the titan. Without a weapon, she knew that she would be a liability in this fight so she decided to, begrudgingly, resign herself to moral support for this battle. She cheered the two on and was delighted when Rook faked an attack making Fitzwrath unready for a swift slash from Positive Diamondhead across the front of his chassis. Stunned by the blow, the cyborg was unable to block the next attack that came from Rook. A new cycle began with the Petrosapien and Revonnahgander as they switched between each other landing attacks upon Fitzwrath's strong metal armour and forced the titan to his knees, his self-repair system struggling to repair the all of the damage that was being inflicted.

The teamwork between the pair continued and for a few precious moments, it looked like they may actually be able to beat the enhanced Chimera Sui Genersis when fate took a turn for the worse. Just when he was about to land his next attack, Positive Diamondhead felt great strain suddenly on his body. It was the familiar feeling that told him that he was at the limit of being able to hold his transformation. His bladed hand missed its intended target and instead scraped down Fitzwrath's shoulder armour, creating an unpleasant screech in the process.

Positive Diamondhead took a few clumsy steps back, his hand morphing back from a blade and fell to one knee as he struggled to keep up the transformation. Of course his sudden actions caught both the attentions of Lala, who came running over upon seeing that her friend was somehow in pain, and Rook, who momentarily stopped attacking Fitzwrath to see what was wrong. This quickly proved to be a mistake. Fitzwrath, using the distraction to his advantage, swiped out with one of his armoured hand and struck Rook with enough force to send the Revonnahgander skidding across the floor, the bones in his right arm shattered by the force of the blow. The Plumber quickly fell unconscious from the excruciating amount of pain.

"Rook!" The Princess cried in horror before turning her head to look back at the recovering Fitzwrath, who was now off the ground with his armour slowly being repaired. Turning to Positive Diamondhead, who now had small amounts of blue aura leaking from his body as it tried to force him to revert, the princess became terrified as both the able bodied fighters were down. It became worse when Fitzwrath slowly and menacingly walked over to the pair and stopped just in front of them. He glared down at them with unforgiving eyes before kicking Positive Diamondhead with a tremendous amount of force that sent him rolling along the ground until he made a new hole in the already wrecked wall of the training room. No longer able to hold it back any longer, Positive Diamondhead finally reverted back into the fatigued and now badly bruised Zack. Due to the Petrosapian's natural resilience and hard body, Zack was fortunate enough not to have any broken bones. Unfortunately his body was extremely sore and due to him holding back the transformation, very tired.

Lala, who had been spared of Fitzwrath's attack, quickly ran over to her friend/bodyguard and quickly began to assess the damage done to him. Her fear only continued to grow as Fitzwrath began taking slow but careful steps towards them, his giant sword at his side.

"This can't get any worse…" She murmured as she watched their cyborg foe come closer.

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"This couldn't get any worse…" Prime Ultimate Echo Echo groaned painfully as pulled himself out of the imprint he had left in the floor and allowed one lone sonic disk to return to him. The last few minutes had been absolute hell. The two aliens had been at a stalemate with the pair on even footing. When Prime Ultimate Echo Echo used his sonic disks to try and stop or even slow his nemesis, Vilgax would either jump out of the way or destroy the disk before it could unleash its attack. The evolved Sonorosian was just thankful that he could literally make all the disks he needed otherwise he would be a sitting duck by now. On Vilgax's last attack, he had actually managed to get close enough to punch Prime Ultimate Echo Echo with enough force to send him skating across the floor, creating a small trench with in the floor.

However Vilgax had not escaped from the assault unscathed. In the moment before the punch had connected, the evolved Sonorosian released on sonic dick which had then proceeded to release a very powerful sonic burst which had sent Vilgax flying back into one of the few remaining Plumber crafts and made it explode in a fiery inferno. Prime Ultimate Echo Echo had hoped that had ended the battle and allowed his guard to drop. This was a mistake as, accompanied by a scratchy yell, a large bar of metal appeared from out of the flames and struck the surprised alien teen across his chest, carrying him with it as it hit the ground.

Disorientated, Prime Ultimate Echo Echo was forcibly reverted back in to Prime Echo Echo and then Ben by the Omnitrix's fail safe functions. However this only meant that Ben was now pinned underneath the heavy metal bar that had been thrown at him. As the teen struggled against his bond, he noticed a shadow appear from within the flames. The figure got larger until Vilgax finally became visible, the flames glowing ominously as the aliens blood red eyes narrowed at the sight of his defenceless enemy.

Knowing that he would be killed if he didn't do something quickly, Ben began struggling to reach the Omnitrix so that he could transform into something, anything that could save him from the former warlord. Much to his misfortune, the Omnitrix was underneath the metal on top of him and since he couldn't move it, he couldn't get to the watch to transform. With the sound of Vilgax's encroaching footsteps in his ears, Ben began to relentlessly struggle against his bonds, his eyes wide with panic. But it was to no avail. The large shadow being cast over him alerted Ben that Vilgax was now stood over him, a long, sharp and jagged piece of metal in his claws. The squid like alien rose the metal above his head looked down upon his foe with smug eyes.

"This is the end child." Vilgax gloated. "There is no way you can escape now."

"Like I haven't heard that before." Ben nervously countered, trying to make light of the situation. He always escaped from these situations, it was just a matter of waiting for an opportunity to show itself…any second now…

"Goodbye boy." The former warlord stated before began to bring down the metal blade.

"GET AWAY FROM MY GRANDSON VILGAX!" A familiar voice sounded before the before mentioned villain was sent flying to the side courtesy of an extremely large energy blast, the piece of metal he had been holding feel to the ground just millimetres to the left of Ben's face. Snapping his head towards his saviour, Ben saw Max in his Plumber armour, which looked like every other Plumber's armour, holding a very large energy blaster which the man cast to the side as he ran to help his grandson.

"Ben! Are you alright?!" The old man asked as he took hold of one end of the metal bar pinning Ben to the ground.

"I'm good Grandpa, thanks for the save." Ben replied with a relieved smile.

"Don't thank me yet, first let's get this thing off of you." The older man stated as he attempted to lift the bar, the technology in his armour slightly increasing his strength. With the new space provided, Ben managed to crawl out from under his former confinement before Max once again dropped the bar.

After a quick stretch, Ben was once again ready to go. "Ok Grandpa, let's take Vilgax down!" he cheered confidently.

"Do you really think it will be that easy!?" The former Warlord cried angrily from above them. Apparently while Max had helped Ben, Vilgax has recovered from the surprise energy blast and was once again on the attack. The former warlord landed in between the two males, swatting Max away in to some of the rubble with swipe of his arm before turning to grab Ben around the waist. "This ends here boy." The squid faced fiend growled.

Ben looked over to his now unconscious Grandfather before turning back to Vilgax with a furious expression. "You're right, but it ends for you." He replied in a dangerous tone before raising the Omnitrix. "First rule of Ben warfare." He activated the Omnitrix, the alien he needed already on the holo wheel selection. "Never leave the arms free." He stated before slamming down on the core.

The room was enveloped in a bright emerald light which, due to his close proximity, forced Vilgax to release Ben in order to cover his eyes. However that prevented him from blocking an uppercut that has the force of ten Humungousaurs and sent the evil alien shooting up into the air and crashing into the ceiling and staying there for a few moments before peeling off and falling back down to the ground with a painful thud. With shaky movements, Vilgax looked up to see a tall robotic humanoid alien.

Its body was primarily green and white, with a large cylinder on each arm and two small circular orbs on its shoulders with dark green coloured liquid bubbling inside that appeared to constantly move around. Its head was cone like with the tip possessing the same liquid that could be seen through his chest, which had a larger version of the Omnitrix symbol. The Omnitrix symbol is located on a green and white coloured belt that is around its waist.

"ATOMIX!" The new form cried in a loud, heroic and righteous voice that made him sound like an overdramatic anime character. "BRACE YOURSELF VILLIAN, FOR NOW YOU SHALL FACE MY POWER!" He declared, raising his hand up as bright emerald, radioactive energy began to form between them. As the energy grew, Prime Atomix began chanting ""HAA-MEE-NA HAA-MEE-NA HAA-MEE-NA!" repeatedly.

Vilgax's eyes grew wide as he braced himself for Prime Atomix's attack.

This was going to hurt.

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Lala shook uncontrollably as Fitzwrath approached her and Zack. The alien girl had no idea what she was going to do. She wasn't anywhere near strong enough to take on the cyborg herself and Zack was in no shape to fight. At the rate the situation was degrading, the two of them would be dead within the next few minutes. With nothing else that she could do, the pinkette decided that she would do anything they could in order to protect her friend.

Whilst Zack struggled to remain conscious, Lala put herself between him and Fitzwrath, her arms stretched out. "STOP!" she cried in as fierce a voice she could manage, which sounded more like a squeak than anything else. Surprisingly, the cyborg alien actually came to a halt right in front of her. His blood red eyes piercing into her.

"Move aside." The titan growled. "I have no quarrel with you."

"No!" Lala screamed. "Why're you even trying to do this?! What are you trying to gain?!"

"I have no reason to kill the boy." Fitzwrath admitted, his sword still in his claws. "He is simply in the way of my mission and my freedom and must be eliminated."

"What do you mean your freedom?!" Lala inquired, picking up on the word. "Are you being forced to do this?!"

"That is non-of your concern girl." Fitzwrath growled, his grip tightening on his sword. "Move aside, I wish not to kill you, but if you get in my way then I shall not hesitate to cleave you in half."

Against the wall, Zack groaned inaudibly as he tried to move. Despite the pain he was in, he was still determined to protect Lala. He tried to transform but the moment he tried he felt great strain upon his body. He hadn't long transformed back which meant he needed to rest before changing again. Unfortunately it didn't look like he was going to be able to help anytime soon.

"I won't let you hurt Zack." Lala stated firmly, keeping her hands stretched out wide to make a wall. Despite this, she was clearly very scared. Her arms were shaking, a small bead of sweat trickling down her face, her teeth clenched and breathing ragged. "You will have to go through me before that."

For one breath moment, Fitzwrath looked down at the brave girl before his eyes narrowed. With a single kick he sent the girl shooting into the space in the wall next to Zack. The male teen looked with a flabbergasted expression as the pinkette slumped onto the ground, her breathing now extremely light. "Lala…" Zack tried, his voice hoarse and very shaky. Slowly and very painfully, Zack pulled himself over to the now unconscious girl. "Lala…" He tried again, gently poking her shoulder. "Please…wake up" He pleaded, tears beginning to well in his eyes. Seeing his friend lying lifelessly in front caused something in the teen to snap. His tears became hot as rage began to grow inside him. With gritted teeth, he turned towards their attacker with wild eyes. "You…" He growled, a dark blue aura beginning to spread around him. "How dare you…"

"The girl was merely in my way." Fitzwrath explained with little interest. "I gave her warning and she ignored me. Her injuries are her own doing."

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO ATTACKED HER YOU BASTARD!" Zack roared as his aura exploded. The cyborg alien was actually forced back a small step by the amount of power released as Zack's body began to change. He grew larger and more robust, his skin becoming more metallic with each second. Within moments Zack had transformed into his signature alien, Grimlock.

Fitzwrath looked up at the new form and prepared himself, knowing that this fight was going to be nothing like it had earlier.

"GRIMLOCK WILL CRUSH SQUID MAN!" The metallic titan yelled as he threw one of his massive fists towards his foe.

Using all that he could muster, Fitzwrath raised his sword to take the brunt of the attack. But, due to the amount of strength Positive Grimlock possessed, he was still forced back a few meters. The cyborg barely had time to think before the titan came at him again, brandishing his sword that he had activated before beginning his charge.

This time, instead of blocking, Fitzwrath dove to the side just as Positive Grimlock took a swipe at him and missing the blade by millimetres. The cyborg turned just as Positive Grimlock took another swipe. Fitzwrath jumped backwards, allowing the blade to embed itself into the ground, before launching himself of the ground and delivering a wicked right hook to his adversaries face.

Positive Grimlock was forced to stagger back, releasing his hold on his weapon. Fitzwrath used this as his chance to counter attack. He may now be smaller than Positive Grimlock but that could easily be turned to his advantage. Rushing forward, Fitzwrath grabbed hold of the titans head and used all of his strength to force the large alien to the ground with a loud crash. From there, Fitzwrath jumped on the titan's back and charged his right gauntlet with electrical energy. Metal and electricity didn't mix and Fitzwrath proved it by sending volts of the crackling energy through Positive Grimlock's body.

The titan screamed in pain as the circuitry within his body began to fry. In a desperate move, Positive Grimlock rolled over on to his front, forcing Fitzwrath to leap away from the robotic hero. Acting quickly in order to prevent the Fitzwrath from attempting a repeat of his previous move, Positive Grimlock turned and lashed out one of his massive fists towards his enemy. This time his attack succeeded and Fitzwrath flew off his feet before skidding badly across the ground, losing his grip on his sword in the process. Wasting no time, the Ultramatrix hero charged forward, grabbing his own discarded sword from the ground as he did so.

The robotic hero leapt into the air and brought up his sword ready to bring it down on Fitzwrath. Unfortunately the cyborg had already recovered from the last attack and was ready for him. After flipping back on to his feet, Fitzwrath rolled to the left missing Positive Grimlock's blade, which had now embedded itself into the ground. Despite avoiding being impaled, Fitzwrath wasn't fast enough to avoid being grabbed by one of Positive Grimlock's large hands.

The angry teen brought up the cyborg alien so that he was looking into his cold red eyes, his blue visor flashing orange for a brief second which no one noticed. "Grimlock make squid man pay for hurting Lala." He stated plainly, his words projecting more anger than his tone. "Squid man face justice for crimes."

To the side, the aforementioned pinkette was beginning to stir. Her body ached from the impact of Fitzwrath's kick and she was sure a few bones were broken but at this point all she cared about was checking her friend was okay. She had no idea how long she was out but hoped that it hadn't been too long. Looking up, she was surprised to see Fitzwrath being held up by a metallic being who was several metres tall and built like an outhouse. At first confused by the new appearance, Lala quickly managed to work out that the metallic alien was Zack transformed into the form he called Grimlock.

Unfortunately now was not the right time to admire the new alien as it looked like Positive Grimlock as the situation looked serious. "Zack…" She managed to say weakly.

Just as she spoke, a loud explosion could be heard from one of the floors above that caught attention of everyone within the trashed training room. Due to the force of the impact, parts of the ceiling began to fall. Due to Positive Grimlock's natural armoured hide and Fitzwrath's cybernetics, the bits of rubble that hit them didn't do any damage. The unconscious Rook was also fortunately safe from rubble as he was too far off the side where nothing was falling. Lala on the other hand wasn't so lucky, she was forced to pull herself to her feet just in time to jump out of the way as a large chunk of rubble plummeted in to the ground where she had been previously, letting out a scream as she did so.

"LALA!" Positive Grimlock cried, finally noticing that his friend was awake and in danger. Unfortunately it was this distraction the Fitzwrath needed. Once again powering up his right gauntlet with electricity, he punched his captives arm, sending an electric shock through it and forcing the titan to let go of him with a cry of pain.

Using his new found freedom, Fitzwrath retrieved his blade before dashing over to Lala and grabbing her around the waist and hoisting his blade so that it was an inch away from her throat.

"LET LALA GO!" Positive Grimlock demanded, his mechanical fists clenched in rage. He couldn't just rush forward or Lala could be killed.

"If you want the girl in one piece then you will remove the collar from around my neck." The warrior replied, slightly shifting his neck so that Positive Grimlock could see the black collar that was attached. "This is my chance to escape Vilgax, ever since that explosion I have not been receiving a signal from him. It is clear the attack has failed.

"IF ATTACK FAIL, SURRENDER TO GRIMLOCK AND LET LALA GO." Positive Grimlock reasoned.

"I think not." Fitzwrath refused. "I have no desire to go to another cell and I can't remove this shackle on my own. By removing this collar, I can finally be free of everything. This is enough talk, remove the collar or I kill the Devilukean." He threatened, bringing the blade that much closer.

"Don't do it!" Lala shouted. "Don't let him get away."

"IF GRIMLOCK REMOVE COLLAR, WILL SQUID MAN RELEASE LALA?" The titan asked, ignoring Lala's outburst.

"Yes."

With great resignation, Positive Grimlock powered down his sword and moved towards the cyborg. Then using the index finger and thumb of each hand he crushed one side of the collar, giving Fitzwrath a quick shock in the process, and tore it open.

"GRIMLOCK HAS DONE WHAT ASKED, NOW LET LALA GO!" Positive Grimlock demanded, dropping the remains of the collar to the floor.

"As you wish." Fitzwrath obliged, throwing Lala at his foe allowing Positive Grimlock to catch her before running out of the training room.

"LALA OKAY?" Positive Grimlock asked the pinkette, gently lowering her to the ground.

"I'll be fine, go catch the bad guy!" The alien princess replied. "You can't let him get away!"

"RIGHT!" Positive Grimlock said before running in the direction Fitzwrath had fled.

After watching him leave, Lala remembered that Rook was still injured. Rushing over to him, the girl used her strength to hoist the Revonnahgander over her shoulders before leaving to go and find some help. She wanted to be useful to and at this point that meant getting Rook to someone who could help him.

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Fitzwrath rushed through the winding corridors off the wrecked Plumber Base, fully aware that he was being followed by Positive Grimlock by the large, rhythmical booms that were coming behind him. Now that he was free of Vilgax's control and the former warlord was probably in Plumber custody, the cyborg warrior wished to finally return to his home planet and take over Vilgax's rule and build a bigger, better empire that he would see spread out across the universe. But first he needed to escape. By now, The Chimerian Hammer would have been piloted away by the droids still on board so he couldn't return there.

His best chance to escape would be one of the Plumber Crafts in the hanger, if any remained. Surprisingly, the corridors he ran down had no Plumbers within them, just the remains of Vilgax's drone forces who had been demolished in the battle. They were probably all being treated for their injuries. The sound of Positive Grimlock's footsteps increasing, Fitzwrath picked up the pace in his search for the hangar. After a few more minutes of running, the cyborg alien came to a door mark hangar. Using the momentum he still possessed from his run, Fitzwrath broke through the door. Unfortunately, luck was not on his side. The moment he entered the hangar he found the area in ruin. Many of the Plumber vehicles were on fire having been destroyed. Scanning the room, Fitzwrath found that he had was now surrounded by many surprised Plumbers who were either attempting to put out the many fires or were helping to move a severely beaten, battered, slightly burned, unconscious Vilgax.

Before he could make a move, Fitzwrath was suddenly blasted with a high pressured water attack that sent him back a few feet. Upon gaining his bearings, Fitzwrath noticed a primarily red, humanoid mollusc like alien in front of him with four green slitted eyes and barnacles over his arms, shoulders and upper legs. A green Omnitrix symbol was in the middle of his chest. Fitzwrath quickly reasoned that this was Ben Tennyson.

"Stand down ugly." Prime Water Hazard warned with a voice that sounded like it was underwater, his two arms pointed forward towards Fitzwrath.

Any response Fitzwrath could make was disrupted when Positive Grimlock burst out of the door behind him in his dinosaur form. He looked down upon the villain with furious eyes that just threatened him to try something. The cyborg turned to find that now every Plumber in the room had their weapons trained on him.

"I do not wish to fight." Fitzwrath claimed, speaking out to the room. "I want only to leave this planet that I was forced to come to."

"What do you mean?" Prime Water Hazard asked, not lowering his guard.

"I was Vilgax's captive." Fitzwrath explained, "He imprisoned me many years ago because I couldn't defeat him in single combat. He freed me for this battle before mutilating my body and ensuring I obeyed his orders by attaching a shock collar to my neck, graciously removed by your associate." He gestured to Positive Grimlock, who growled angrily. "All I wish, is to return to my planet."

"And do what?" Prime Water Hazard asked.

"Now that he is in captivity, I shall take over from where Vilgax left of and lead my people in to a glorious new age." Fitzwrath replied.

"In others words just changing one dictator for another." Prime Water Hazard summed up. Positive Grimlock growled in agreement.

"It is how you want to see it." Fitzwrath merely replied. "It does not change the fact I am leaving now."

The sound of mechanics shifting caught everyone's attention as they turned to see Positive Grimlock shift back into his robot mode. "SQUID MAN GOES NO WHERE!" He bellowed.

"And you will stop me?" The villain asked.

"GRIMLOCK WILL CRUSH SQUID MAN!" The titan countered taking one step forward. But, as he did so, a wave of dizziness suddenly washed over him and his body began to feel like it was burning.

"Zack?" Prime Water Hazard said, noticing something was wrong.

"SOMETHING…FEEL…WRONG." Positive Grimlock stated, falling to one knee as blue aura began to rise up in masses from his body. It was then that the titan realised what was happening to him. Once again his body was forcing him to revert back to his original form. But this time he was already far past his limit and his body was screaming in agony from the much needed release of keeping his body transformed. With a cry in pain, Positive Grimlock collapsed on to the floor and reverted back into Zack, barely conscious.

"Zack!" Prime Water Hazard cried again, losing his focus on Fitzwrath.

Using this to his advantage, Fitzwrath dashed forward and punched Prime Water Hazard in the chest and sent him flying into some of the Plumbers, causing the hero to be dazed. Of course due to this, all the other Plumbers in the hangar opened fire on the villain. However, thanks to his armour, the cyborg alien was relatively unharmed but still had to shield himself due to the amount of attacks coming at him.

Realising that he was not going to escape through the hangar, Fitzwrath dropped to one knee and punched the ground with all of his might. Cracks spread across the ground as it weakened. Fitzwrath once again raised his arm and pummelled it into the floor, once again causing the cracks to spread.

Zack watched hopelessly as he once again tried to transform but unable to due to his fatigue. With nothing else that he could do, he looked at Fitzwrath with eyes filled with fury. The Cyborg once again punched the ground, causing it to sink a little as the structural integrity began to reach its limit. Fitzwrath raised both of his arms together, ready to hit the ground once more before he caught sight of Zack glaring at him.

"I will find you." The teen growled quietly, but despite this Fitzwrath still heard him. "And when I do we shall finish what we started."

"You can try." The cyborg replied before throwing his arms down, making the floor cave in and allowing Fitzwrath to fall through to the floor below, unoccupied by Plumber where he made a break for the nearest exit. Of course Plumber agents followed the cyborg through the hole he had made but Zack knew they would be unable to catch the runaway. Fitzwrath would escape and there was nothing he could do about it.

With that last thought on his mind, Zack's fatigue finally became too much and the teen lost consciousness.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Max Tennyson stood outside of the medical bay looking in on the many Plumber agents who had been injured during the battle. Amongst the casualties was Rook, who's arm had been shattered, Zastin, with several broken bones, and Zack who had pushed himself too far and had not yet regained consciousness. Max himself had his right arm in a cast from his encounter with Vilgax. He noticed Ben sat next to his partner with a solemn expression as he explained what has happened to the injured Revonnahgander whilst Lala sat next to Zack's bedside, patiently waiting or the teen to awaken. The Plumber doctors had assured the pinkette that Zack would make a full recovery and that he just needed rest.

Max was angry with teen for disobeying orders and leaving his post but was proud that he fought to defend his friends and fellow recruits. Overall he thought Zack had proven himself a little that day but could still stand to listen a bit more. The base had been badly damaged from the attack and whatever Plumbers were still able to move are were relatively uninjured were either taking part in the reconstruction efforts or were removing the body parts of the destroyed drones who had attacked. It would take a while for the base to be fully repaired but that was part of the course for the Plumbers.

Fitzwrath had managed to escape. The cyborg had somehow made his way in to the sewer system beneath the base where the Plumber agents has lost him. Vilgax on the other hand had been incarcerated in one of the Plumber cells waiting to be transported to an off planet facility where he, hopefully, would be unable to escape.

Turning away, Max began to make his way back up to the command centre, which thankfully was still up and operational. No sooner had he entered did an alarm begin to blare. Cursing his own luck, Max quickly made his way over to one of the many computer screens where a young Plumber was rapidly typing away as he checked the danger.

"What's the situation?" Max asked with authority.

"Sir, it appears that a meteor is has entered the Earth's atmosphere." The agent reported. "However it appears to be breaking up."

"So we're safe?"

"It's not breaking up fast enough." The agent replied. "However it should be small enough to have a limited impact."

"Do we know where it is coming down?"

The agent rapidly pressed a few more keys before replying. "According to these calculations it should be coming down just outside of Los Soledad, sir."

"At least it's away from civilisation." Max sighed. "When it makes impact send a retrieval team to check it out."

"Sir, that's not all." The agent reported, much to Max's annoyance. This just had to be more complicated than it should be. "Sensors are picking up a life sign coming from within the meteor, but I don't recognise the DNA signature coming from it."

"What?! Let me see." Max ordered, coming closer to take a good look at the screen. Almost instantly the old man's face paled.

"Sir?" The Plumber called, unsettled by Max's expression.

"Call everyone in." Max suddenly said. "This is a level 1 situation."

"Sir, do you recognise this?"

"Unfortunately yes." The old man replied. "Let's just hope we're the only ones that have noticed."

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**Finally! It took five months but I am finally done! Only two chapters remain of the summer arc and then it's back to Yokai Academy. Once again I am sorry for the long wait but I have just been swamped with work, driving lessons and revision. I will try to write the next chapter faster but I'm not making any promises. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that it makes up for the wait. **

**As always, please leave your reviews and I will see you next time.**


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 is here. I hope you guys enjoy, I worked hard on it.**

**Just to let everyone know, I designed my own rendition of Ironmonger from what I imagined he would look like and posted it on my Deviantart page. I'm Yugiohfan2 so if you want to take a look it's there. It's not the best (I basically just photo shopped another image) but I hope you like it. **

**On with the show.**

"**..." Speech**

'**...' Quote **

'**Hi' Thought**

"**Learn your place!" **Inner Moka through Rosario

**Feedback=Christian**

**Positive Feedback=Zack**

**Prime Feedback=Ben**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but Christian, Dashslicer, Ultimate Crabdozer and the idea of Ironmonger's species, everything else belongs to their own creators.**

**Alien Watch in a Monster School**

**Homecoming**

High in the cerulean blue sky, an emerald green jet rocketed through the air. The jet was very long and strangely resembled the Concord. Blue jets of energy blasted out of the thrusters on its wings. The impressive vehicle was known as the Rust Bucket 3 and it currently had four occupants. Sitting inside the cockpit were Christian Hawke, Moka Akashiya, Kurumu Kurono, and their pilot, Kevin Levin. The former three were all in their casual clothes that they had worn when they had left Yokai Academy only days before. Christian in his black jacket, white shirt and blue jeans, Moka in her red sundress and cardigan and Kurumu in her white short sleeved shirt with a ribbon around the collar and a pink mini skirt.

Christian was in the co-pilot seat on Kevin's right whereas Moka and Kurumu sat behind, both looking out of the windows in absolute awe. When the four had first set off, both girls had seemed extremely nervous and a little frightened. However, once in the air, they both quickly calmed down and began to look out of the windows in complete fascination, their earlier nervousness having completely vanished. They had now been travelling for a few hours and the girls were still glued to the scenery.

When asked why they were so fascinated with the sky, the girls had explained that as monsters, they didn't actually have passports so neither of them had actually flown in a plane before, let alone a high powered jet that seconded as a spaceship.

Letting out a content sigh, the Omnitrix user settled into his chair as he thought about how he and his friends had come to be in this situation.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Kevin had landed the Rust Bucket 3 on the long beach just below the Witch's Knoll and to the side of the students of the Newspaper Club's campsite. Kevin and Christian had already moved the unconscious Hex to a holding cell that was present in the Rust Bucket's cargo bay._

_Now the teens were all gathered around the fire, Ruby having been moved into one of the tents out of the way. _

_"Your name is Kevin Levin." Ms. Nekonome repeated, the aforementioned teen having just introduced himself. _

_"That's right." Kevin replied. "I'm here to pick up Christian over there." He stated plainly, pointing over to the boy in question. _

_"As you are planning to take away one of my students, may I ask why?" The teacher asked curiously. _

_"Don't know myself." Kevin admitted with a shrug. "Was just told to come and get him, so here I am." _

_Ms. Nekonome didn't look convinced in the slightest by the answer but before she could reply, Christian stepped forward. "Did Max send you?" He asked simply. _

_"Yep. And it's not just you he wanted. He called me and Gwen in as well." Kevin answered casually. _

_The Omnitrix bearer nodded before turning to his teacher and friends. "I'm going with him." He stated, prompting shocked remarks from everyone. _

_"Why?" Yukari asked. _

_"It's my duty too. Besides, I can't say no to Max. The man practically raised me." Christian replied with a small smile. "Also it's still summer break, it would be nice to go home for a few days." _

_Ms. Nekonome looked at her student for a few more moments before letting out a sigh. "I guess that's okay, as long as you're back before the new term begins." _

_"I will be." Christian replied with an appreciative smile. _

_"Wait!" Moka suddenly shouted, gaining everyone's attention. "If you're going home, then I want to go with you." The girl stated, surprising everyone. Since no one said anything in reply, the pinkette continued. "I mean, I want to see what your hometown is like. You talk about it a lot so it would be nice to see it for myself." _

_Though she was smiling innocently, it was clear that was not the reason Moka wanted to go with Christian and Kevin. _

_Kurumu was the first to overcome her shock. "If Moka's going, then I'm going as well. I want to see Chris's hometown too." In truth, she just didn't want to leave Christian alone with Moka, or any girl for that matter. _

_Christian, still a little dumbfounded, turned to Kevin. "Is it okay to bring them along?" He asked._

_"The old man didn't say anything about bringing others, but I don't see why it should be a problem." Kevin replied before a small smirk appeared on his face. "If it were me, I'd want to bring my girls along to show everyone." That comment caused Christian and Moka to turn bright red in embarrassment whilst Kurumu swooned that someone thought she was 'Christian's girl.' _

_"Wait one moment." Ms. Nekonome interrupted. "As your teacher I think that I should have a say in this."_

_"Please Ms. Nekonome." Kurumu and Moka pleaded, stars in their eyes. _

_"Uuuh…" Was all the teacher could say as she was backed into a corner by her students. _

_As the two older girls pressured their teacher, Yukari looked to the tent that Ruby was in. The young witch was brought out of her thoughts when she felt someone place a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Christian standing over her. "Do you want to come too?" he asked. _

_"I do…but…" _

_"But you think someone should stay to look after Ruby." The teen summed up. _

_"Yeah." _

_"That's incredibly grown up of you." _

_"Well I'm a very grown up person." Yukari boasted proudly. _

_"Modest too by the looks of things." Kevin interjected, having crossed over to the pair. "Don't worry, I'll make sure they bring you back a souvenir." _

_"FINE!" The shrill voice of Ms. Nekonome yelled, Moka and Kurumu having broken her. "You can go! But you have to sign an agreement that you won't expose yourselves to the human public and you are to return to school before the summer break ends. And since you are going on this trip, I expect a five hundred word essay on human life in America. From each of you."_

_"Yes ma'am." Came a dejected chorus from the teens. _

_"Oh and bring me back some fish." Ms. Nekonome added with a hungry expression._

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Looking back on it, the Plumber teen couldn't help but feel their teacher had given up too easily. There was very little doubt in his mind that she would be receiving some sort of punishment when she returned with only one out of the four students she had left with.

Then there was the other thing. During the last battle with Hex, the Omnitrix on Christian's wrist had gone through some kind of update. Not only had he unlocked the awesome new form that he dubbed Ironmonger, but apparently the Omnitrix's timer had also been extended, judging from the amount of time he had remained transformed in the previous battle. And that wasn't the end to the surprises. After doing some fiddling around with the device on the trip, Christian discovered he could now freely edit the clothing his aliens wore, which he had done with a few of his aliens. Other than that, Christian was still yet to find out what other discoveries awaited him.

Leaning back into his seat, Christian let out another sigh before he felt someone tap his shoulder from the side, snapping the teen out of his thoughts.

"What're you thinking about?" Kevin asked him, a small smirk on his face.

"Nothing much." The teen replied.

"You sure you're not thinking about you supermodel level friends?" Kevin teased, once again making Christian turn red.

"I don't know what you're implying." Christian denied, looking away towards the window.

"C'mon, don't tell me you haven't thought about dating one of them." Kevin pushed. "Which one is it?"

"I have no comment."

"It's pinkie isn't it?" Christian somehow managed to choke on nothing as he began to cough madly, only confirming Kevin's guess. The teen was extremely glad the girls were focused on the scenery.

"Ha! You're too easy." Kevin laughed before looking at the ships instruments. "We're not too far now. Should be another ten minutes before we land."

"This thing sure is fast." Christian commented, having gotten over his coughing fit.

"Yeah, it's a shame that I don't get to take her out as often as I used to." Kevin replied a little sullenly. "She's been gathering dust while Gwen's at college and I'm working. Rook's got the Proto-TRUK so he and Ben don't need her. It's just sad."

Christian nodded in agreement before falling in to silence. It didn't last long because soon they were flying over Bellwood.

"Ladies, welcome to Bellwood." Kevin said as the girls gazed down at the town in amazement.

"Wow…" They said together, fascinated by the differences they saw in relation to Japanese towns. They also noted there seemed to be a lot more skyscrapers than in any normal town.

Before any more words could be said, the ship's radio buzzed to life.

"Rustbucket 3, this is Plumber Headquarters. What is your ETA?" A voice that Kevin, Christian and Moka recognised as Max Tennyson's asked.

"Plumber Base we are three minutes away." Kevin replied. "Christian's with me as well as a couple of his friends and one prisoner."

"Magister Tennyson." Christian greeted, falling back into his formal way of speaking.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Max?" The old man asked with a sigh. "Wait. Friends? Prisoner? Who have you brought with you?"

"I've brought my friends Moka and Kurumu." Christian replied. "They wanted to come and see what Bellwood is like and since it's the summer holiday they have time to visit. As for the prisoner, Hex somehow made it to Japan where he caused some trouble. It was taken care of though."

"Looks like we weren't the only ones who have had some excitement." Max said quietly, making Christian a little confused as to what the old man meant.

*BOOM*

The conversation was ended when an explosion sounded from the town below. The occupants of the jet looked out of the windows to see a pillar of smoke rising up from across the buildings.

"What the hell was that!?" Kurumu shouted, straining her eyes to get a better look.

"It was probably Psyphon." Max said over the radio. "He started making trouble about half an hour ago in the centre of the town. Ben and Zack are out there now."

"Zack's down there?" Christian, Moka and Kurumu said together, surprised that their friend was fighting.

"Yeah. Psyphon brought a few of his robots so Ben took him for backup." Max explained.

"What about Rook?" Christian asked, confused as to why Ben's partner wasn't helping.

"Rook is currently unfit for the field and has returned to Revonnah for some rest and recuperation." Max replied. However despite saying that, Christian continued to look to where the smoke was still rising, his hero complex kicking in.

"Sir, permission to assist Ben and Zack." He said, earning a smirk from Kevin and an unbelieving look from Moka and Kurumu. "I can help end the fight and then we can meet up with the rest of you guys at the base."

There was a small silence as Max considered the request. "Permission granted." Came the reply. "I'll see you when it's over."

"Yes sir." Christian said with a smirk as he undid his seat belt and got up.

"I'll open the hatch." Kevin called out as he pressed a button on the ships dashboard that opened a circular hole in the floor. Christian stood before the hole and activated the Omnitrix, scrolling through the selection until he found the form he wanted. With the form he wanted at the ready he prepared to jump.

"Stop!" Moka and Kurumu shouted together, causing the teen to turn to look at them.

"I'll be back soon." Christian reassured them.

"We know." Kurumu admitted.

"Just be safe." Moka told him with a small smile.

Christian smirked. "I will. See you on the ground." With those words Christian allowed his weight to pull him back and fell backwards through the hole. As soon as he had left, Kevin closed the hole and kept flying.

"Don't worry about him." He reassured the girls. "He's tougher than he looks."

Both girls looked from Kevin to each other, somehow feeling a little better. However, Moka couldn't help but fiddle with her bracelet in worry.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On the ground, Ben, as Prime Four Arms, and Zack as Positive Diamondhead, were both having trouble taking down Psyphon and his hordes of Robotic Extermination Devices (R.E.D. for short). The R. were red, box shaped robots that had a white skull and red eyes in the centre. They also had a pair of blasters on either side of their bodies and another underneath.

Psyphon stood on top of a pile of cars, blasting at the heroes who were using a wall of crashed cars as cover while they formulated a plan. Psyphon was a thin and rather skeletal-like alien with a white body that was covered in black markings. He wore a black, sleeveless robe over his body that had metal parts covering it. On his hands were strange glove-like gauntlets with red switches on the back. The strangest part about his appearance was the fin-like tip on the top of his head. Psyphon had once been the toady to Vilgax and still deeply respected and feared the former conqueror's power. He had heard that Vilgax had been captured during his attack on the Plumber Base and was now on a rampage, demanding that his master be freed or he and his robots would destroy Bellwood in retaliation.

Luckily, the civilians had been evacuated from the area by the combined efforts of Ben, Zack, and the local authorities. With the police ensuring no one else entered the area, it was left to the transformed heroes to fight the villain. Psyphon had been uneased by the fact he was up against two Omnitrix users but quickly recovered from his stupor and had sent his robots after them.

The battle had started out well with the two teens taking down R.E.D after R.E.D, but soon, they had been flanked by superior numbers and were forced to take the defensive. For Zack, he was frustrated as he had only been cleared for active duty two days after waking up from remaining transformed for too long. Lala was of course ecstatic when he had woken up, pulling him into an energetic, bone crushing hug. Zastin had been less so, hoping that if Zack had never woken up, he and Lala could return to Deviluke. After a small amount of physio therapy to ensure he was truly okay, Zack had been cleared to start going on missions. However, though he wouldn't admit it, Zack was kicking himself as Fitzwrath had managed to escape the battle. The Doppelganger teen swore to himself that he would find the cyborg villain and lock him away where he couldn't harm anyone ever again. Unfortunately, there had been no sign of Fitzwrath and the trail had gone cold, meaning that Zack would have to wait until the villain showed his ugly armoured face again.

Now he had to deal with a psychotic alien who was threatening to destroy a city because his boss had been captured. Overall he wasn't happy.

"Any ideas on how to stop this guy?" Positive Diamondhead called out over the sound of blaster fire.

"Working on it!" Prime Four Arms replied, picking up a piece of rubble and chucking it at the closest R.E.D, destroying it.

From his place atop of the piled up cars, Psyphon laughed at his advantage. "You may have another Omnitrix with you, Tennyson but not even two of you can beat me and my army!"

"How 'bout three then!?" A voice filled with confidence shouted from above before a rain of electrical bolts rained down striking several of the R. , overloading their circuitry and causing them to explode and creating a cloud of smoke into which a shadowed figure landed.

"WHAT!?" Psyphon cried out as the smoke coming from R. cleared to reveal a familiar black creature with a green strip running down the centre of its chest. It had plug sockets on each of its four fingers while two antenna came out of its head with plugs at the end as well as a tail that had a plug on the end too. Gold batteries ran down its arms and on the side of its hips. It had one green eye and the Omnitrix was in the centre of its chest.

Prime Four Arms and Positive Diamondhead came out from behind their cover to look at the new figure. As soon as they did, the newcomer turned and flashed a cocky smile and gave them a peace sign. "Hey guys!" Feedback greeted. "Did you miss me?"

"Chris/Bro!" The two other heroes cried in a mix of confusion and happiness.

"Another Omnitrix user!?" Psyphon gasped, clearly shocked by the revelation. "Is Azmuth just giving them away now?!" Shaking off his initial reaction, the villain's eyes became fierce. "It matters not!" He shouted as more R. began to gather around him. "I will still defeat all of you!"

"Perhaps it's too early for a reunion." Prime Four Arms pointed out as he got into a fighting stance.

"Yeah, unfortunately this guy is really persistent." Positive Diamondhead agreed as his arms shifted into blades.

"Then let's show him he's messing with the wrong guys." Feedback agreed as electricity crackled in his hands.

The first R.E.D fired causing a chain reaction of the other drones to start firing. It may have been a problem but all of the energy based attacks were redirected as Feedback through his arms forwards and began absorbing the attacks leaving nothing to obstruct his two teammates from rushing forward and destroying the R. by either crushing them or slicing them in half.

Using the energy he had absorbed from the R. attacks, Feedback flung his arms forward and shot out a large beam of electrical energy that destroyed any of the robots in his way. Despite the turn in events though, there were still far too many R. to fight and soon the heroes found themselves surrounded by the deadly robots. Feedback was still taking in the energy attacks but he couldn't absorb all of them. One lucky shot managed to make its way through and hit him in the back.

"Agh!" The Conductoid cried in pain as he dropped to one knee.

"Chris!" Prime Four Arms cried in alarm, having seen his friend go down. He turned to Positive Diamondhead. "We need cover!"

Nodding, Positive Diamondhead placed his hand on the ground and forced green emeralds to come out of the ground which then covered the heroes in a dome. This didn't deter the R. though as they began to shoot at the dome in the hope that it would break.

"That's right, hide away!" Psyphon jeered. "You're only prolonging the inevitable."

Inside the dome, the three teens had changed back into human form to allow Christian to rest. "Guess that could have gone better." The injured teen sighed as he got up, his hand on his back. Feedback had provided some resistance to the energy attack but it still stung.

"We need a plan." Zack pointed out. "Who knows how long this dome will last."

"Psyphon is controlling the drones" Ben stated. If we take him out, we stop the R. ."

"But we can't even get close to him thanks to those things!" Zack said. "They can see us coming from a mile away."

"What if they didn't know who was who?" Christian asked, a small smirk upon his face. "I've got an idea."

Back with the R. , the drones were finally beginning to break through dome, creating small holes in its surface, when there were two bright green flashes and a wave of blue. The drones increased their rate of fire until the crystal dome completely broke apart.

Amidst the remains of the dome were six figures who all looked near identical except for their clothing. They were small, about the size of a small child, they had white skin with three fins on their heads. They were wearing a jumpsuit that covered most of their body and gem-like orbs were present on the figures' arms and chest. An hourglass symbol was present on their heads. The jumpsuits and orbs of four of the figures were green, they had green eyes, and the symbol on their head was green as well. The other two were wearing a red jumpsuit but their eyes, orbs, and symbols were blue. A red scar was over their left eye.

"Ditto!" The figures cried together in unison.

Psyphon raised a brow in confusion at the six Splixons. "You think that form is going to have any greater affect than the ones you were using previously?" He asked in amusement.

"Well yeah." Green Ditto 1 replied.

"We have team work on our side." Green Ditto 2 added.

"You've just got red hunks of metal." Red Ditto 1 finished.

Growling by the idiocrasy of the heroes' decision, Psyphon thrust a pointed finger forward. "Destroy them!" He ordered his R. , making the flying death machines charge forward, their blasters blaring.

With a mad smile, the six Dittos paired up, one jumping upon another's shoulders and began running off in three different directions, a horde of R. following after them. The drones constantly fired but the Dittos were too evasive, dodging just before each blast hit.

"Can't catch us!" The Dittos cried together before laughing manically.

"Catch them!" Psyphon screamed.

The red Dittos and two of the green Ditto then began running at each other, their individual robot stalkers following after them. Due to the height advantage the four easily passed each other, the two R. following weren't so lucky, taking each other out when they slammed into each other.

Psyphon watched in disbelief as the robots he had personally assembled began falling for the stupid pranks the Dittos came up with, all the while not noticing a translucent being appear from the ground behind him.

The moment the villain realised there was someone behind him was when his body began to freeze from the legs up.

"WHAT!?" The villain cried in shock as the ice continued to rise. "No!" As the ice continued to climb up his body, Psyphon raised his arms in to the arm. Within moments, Psyphon was trapped within a solid block of ice. The only parts of his body that were free were his lower arms, which were trapped at the elbow. Only his fingers were able to move and were wiggling around madly as Psyphon silently seethed from within his prison.

With Psyphon no longer a threat, the spectral figure made himself visible to reveal the phantom-like form of Big Chill. The alien looked over at his friends, who were having a wonderful job distracting the R.E.D.s from him. "Glad that worked." Big Chill commented as he removed Psyphon's gauntlets and looked them over. "Now if I were an off switch, where would I be?" Out of all of the switches, only one really stuck out. "Let's try the big one." He commented as he pressed the button.

The effect was immediate. All of the R. deactivated, their glowing red eyes going dark as they fell to the ground becoming nothing more than oversized paper weights. The danger now passed, the four green Dittos reformed into one whilst the two red ones did the same. The two aliens high fived each other happily as Big Chill flew down to them. As one, the three aliens reverted back to their human forms. The two Dittos changing back into Ben and Zack respectively, and Big Chill reverting into Christian.

"Nice plan, Bro!" Zack commended.

"Yeah." Ben agreed. "Psyphon may have known we could transform, but he didn't know we don't have the same forms. One extra set of Ditto and that's all it took to fool him."

"It wasn't anything special." Christian replied modestly.

"Yeah, well this could have gone on a lot longer without you." Ben told his friend before pointing to the frozen Psyphon. "Let's get him back to Plumber HQ. Hopefully, he'll stay there this time." With a nod of agreement, the three teens made their way over to the incapacitated villain. However, as they began to walk, Ben placed a hand upon Christian's shoulder. "By the way dude, welcome home."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Upon securing the frozen Psyphon within the back of the Proto-TRUK, Ben drove the three heroes back to the Plumber HQs. Along the way, Ben and Zack told Christian what had happened whilst he had been away, starting with the arrival of Lala on Earth and how Zack had become her bodyguard and then the attack by Vilgax on the base that had led to numerous casualties, including Rook's shattered arm. The base was apparently in a state of repair due to the extensive damages done during the battle. This meant that the Plumbers were being stretched thin dealing with small incidents.

Apparently though, something big had happened which was why Max had called Christian in. However no one, not even Ben, knew exactly what had happened. It was all one big mystery. Despite now being slightly less optimistic about going to the base, Christian was still happy about being able to see his friends and also to meet this Lala person Zack had mentioned. From the sound of things, Zack seemed to quite like her.

The rest of the ride was quite pleasant. Christian was able to take in the sights that he had come to miss over these last few months. Within ten minutes, the three heroes and their frozen captive entered the secret entrance that led into the Plumber hangar. As they came in to the main area, Christian was shocked to see the amount of damage that had been done to the hangar. Parts of the walls were littered with cracks and there were holes everywhere. Plumber tanks and ships were still being repaired but most were still wreckages scattered around. Teams of Plumbers were walking around carrying bits of rubble to be removed so repairs could continue. Christian couldn't help but wish that he had been at the base to help repel Vilgax's forces. He knew that the damages wouldn't have been prevented, but they could have at least been reduced. As they pulled in, Christian took notice of the long, emerald green jet that had been parked on one of the landing spaces.

As soon as Ben had brought the Proto-TRUK to a stop, three Plumber of different alien species opened up the back and proceeded to move Psyphon onto a levitating platform to be moved to one of the cells where he could continue to defrost.

The three teens were greeted by Max Tennyson in his casual attire of a Hawaiian shirt and blue trousers. With him was a girl around Ben's age who had long ginger hair that came down just past her shoulders. She was wearing a red sweater over a white shirt with skirt and a black mini skirt over black stockings.

"It took you guys long enough. You three must be out of shape if Psyphon was an issue for you." The girl commented with a smug smile.

"It's good to see you too Gwen." Ben greeted as he gave his cousin a hug.

Gwen smiled before looking over Ben's shoulder to see Christian and Zack standing together. She then broke her hug with her cousin and moved to the former of the two teens. "And you!" She cried, pointing at Christian, who was now feeling a bit nervous under the red head's glare. "I've heard what happened to you at that academy you're staying at! Do you have any idea how worried I was when I heard what happened with that enforcer guy!? Why didn't you call for backup before you fought him?!"

"I didn't have any service." Christian joked nervously, earning him a punch in the arm.

Gwen continued to glare at the teen for a few more seconds before her scowl turned into a smile. "It's good to see you." She said as she pulled her friend in to a hug

"You too." Christian replied, breathing a sigh of relief as he accepted the hug.

Once the two had separated, Gwen moved to Zack. "Hi, I'm Gwen Tennyson. It's good to meet you." She said, putting out her hand.

"Zack Orion. Nice to meet you too." The Doppelganger teen replied accepting the handshake. "I would have introduced myself earlier but I didn't know were here."

"Good to see introductions are going well." Max said as he walked forward. "And it's good to see you in the flesh again." He added, shaking Christian's hand.

"It's good to be back." The teen replied.

"CHRISTIAN!"

Anything Christian was about to say was interrupted by the shrill cry of his name. Before he even had the chance to turn towards the noise, Christian was tackled to the ground by a blue and white blur. When everything stopped spinning, Christian was able to make out Kurumu happily hugging him. "I'm so happy you're okay!" The bluenette declared. "I've been worried about you this whole time."

"I appreciate that Kurumu." Christian replied, very embarrassed that this was happening in front of both his father figure and the two people that were siblings to him. He noticed that Ben and Zack were trying to hold in a laugh while Gwen looked flabbergasted. In his opinion, it couldn't get any worse.

"Get off him Kurumu!"

He was wrong.

Moka, Kevin following closely behind, rushed past the group and proceeded to pull Kurumu off Christian. "Let go of me Moka!" Kurumu cried defiantly as she struggled to get free. Christian, who was now able to get up, looked at his two friends and sighed.

Off to the side, Ben leaned over to Zack. "Is it always like this?" He asked.

"Pretty much." The Doppelganger teen replied with a smirk as he watched his friend try to break up the girls. "Although most of the time Yukari's here to contribute to the hysteria." Zack continued. "Have to say I'm lucky I don't have to deal with this on a daily basis."

"ZACK!" A girlish cry shouted from behind before the boy in question felt someone tackle in from behind and envelope him in a hug which caused both to topple to the ground. This, much to Christian's relief, was enough to distract the attention of most of the people assembled, including the arguing Moka and Kurumu. "How did the fight go?" Lala asked, full of curiosity and excitement. "Which aliens did you use? What did the bad guy do? Who are these people?" The final question was asked when the Devilukean had finally taken notice of the people looking at her.

"Hey it's Zack." Kurumu realised.

"But who's that?" Moka said looking at Lala, still in the outfit she had come to earth in, who had lost interest in the others and had gone back to asking Zack random questions about the fight with Psyphon. "And what is she wearing?"

"She kind of looks like you Moka." The Succubus noted.

"Do you think so?" The pinkette took a closer look at the girl straddling Zack. "I can kind of see what you mean."

Christian looked at the Doppelganger teen and the tailed pinkette and couldn't help but smirk. Zack had been enjoying his pain when Moka, Kurumu and Yukari had smothered him at the academy and he had to say, seeing Zack struggle to answer his 'attacker's' many questions, he could see why it was funny.

"Lala, I'm fine but I'll tell you about it later." Zack finally managed to say. "But before I do that can you please get off of me so I can introduce you to my friends?"

"These are your friends!?" Lala exclaimed, her head snapping up to look to look at Christian and the two girls in excitement. Within moments, the Devilukean princess had jumped off of Zack and shook each of the three Yokai students' hands, each time introducing herself, telling them she was a princess from the planet Deviluke and that she was happy to meet them.

Of course the facts that the three picked up on was Lala was an alien, and that she was a princess.

"You're a princess!?" Moka and Kurumu cried in unison, automatically fawning over the pinkette who had just introduced herself.

"I'm Kurumu, it's nice to meet you." The bluenette introduced, giving her best smile as she tried to impress the real live princess.

"My name is Moka Akashiya. I hope we can get along." The vampire teen said, giving a more sincere smile than her succubus friend.

"Me too!" Lala agreed, a large excited smile upon her face.

Whilst the girls chatted, Christian and Ben helped Zack off the floor. The former was happy that the girls were becoming friends.

"So Christian…"

The teen suddenly felt very uncomfortable as he felt Gwen tighten her mana glowing hand on his shoulder. Shakily, he turned his head to see the girl's fake, sinister smile. Behind her, Kevin, Ben, Zack and even Max were smiling at Christian's upcoming misfortune. "Mind telling us about those girls you brought with you."

"Um…there isn't much to tell." Christian replied nervously, feeling extremely annoyed that his so called friends and father figure weren't helping him.

"Somehow I don't believe that." The red head replied.

"Basically the girl in the sundress with pink hair is Moka and the girl with blue hair is Kurumu." Christian answered. "They're two of my close friends from the academy. When Kevin came to pick me up, they wanted to come too since they have never been to America before. Hope that's okay by the way." He added the last bit to Max.

"Its fine but there won't be much time for sightseeing unfortunately." The old man replied. When he was met with confused looks from the five, he gave them a small smile. "I'll explain it later. Right now I'm more interested in why we have Hex in a holding cell."

"Well it's like this…" Christian began before he began to tell Max what had transpired on the Witches Hill. He left out the part about being stabbed and almost dying as he knew it would worry the older man. However he did talk about the Omnitrix upgrade, how he had unlocked a new form and used Flarefox for the first time. Max listened with great intrigue, looking concerned when Christian reported he had briefly lost control of Flarefox at first but looked proud about how the use of Ironmonger had not only saved his friends but also the life of Ruby who had been injured in the course of the fighting.

When Christian had said all he needed to, Max held his chin in thought. "The fact you're your Omnitrix has been updated is a little concerning. While it is good for the additional power, Azmuth wouldn't have sent an update for you unless he thought something was worrying." He held his position for a few more moments before sighing. "Whatever the case we will take a look later. For now I have some things to organise. Meet in the control room in two hours. Everything will be explained then. See you kids in a bit." With that the Magister walked away to attend to some other duties and leaving the teens in the hangar.

The five looked at each other for a moment. Zack was the first to speak up. "So what does everyone want to do for two hours?"

"Christian?"

Before anyone could answer, Moka appeared at Christian's side, having left Kurumu and Lala to keep talking.

"What is it Moka?" The teen asked, happy to be of some help.

"Umm…You see…" Moka began, noticeably blushing and looking extremely embarrassed. Christian automatically felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.

'_Oh god, please no.' _Christian pleaded. "Are you hungry?" He asked, scared she would be. The pinkette merely nodded ashamedly. Christian cast a quick to glance to the people behind him before letting out a sigh. "Go on then…" he allowed dejectedly.

With a small smile Moka came forward, a light blush plastering her face. Ben, Gwen and Kevin all looked at the scene with a confused expression. That was until Moka bit into Christian's neck. The three hero teens' mouths shot open, Gwen notably looking more horrified at Moka's forwardness. It only lasted for a few moments before Moka drew away but the damage had been done.

"Thank you, Christian." Moka only just managed to say before Gwen intervened.

"What was that!?" Gwen demanded, looking directly at Christian and making him wish that he had denied Moka's request. Before he could answer though, Kevin decided to add his own input.

"Oh let it go Gwen." He said, trying not to laugh at the girls over reaction. "They're young, who are we to judge what they do in public."

As Moka and Christian's faces turned red, Gwen set her sights on her boyfriend. "That's not the point Kevin!"

"I'm sorry…" Moka mumbled. "It's just that Christian's blood is so delicious…"

"His blood!?" Gwen and Ben cried as they focused their attention on the uncomfortable Moka, Kevin eyebrows merely raised. To the side, Zack was struggling not to laugh at the predicament his friends had gotten themselves into.

"I guess introductions are due." Christian said, hoping to clear up the misunderstandings that had apparently formed. "Kurumu! Come meet my friends!" He called over to Succubus, who happily obliged, dragging Lala along with her. "Guys, let me introduce you to Moka Akashiya and Kurumu Kurono. They are two of my closest friends at Yokai and have saved my life more times than I count."

"It's nice to meet you." The two girls said together, giving a small bow in respect.

"And girls, these are Ben and Gwen Tennyson and Gwen's boyfriend Kevin Levin. I've known Ben and Gwen since I was a kid so I guess they're like my siblings." Christian continued, pointing to the three teens in turn.

"Hey." Said Ben, giving a friendly wave.

"Sup." Kevin greeted.

Gwen said nothing. Instead she became particularly interested in Moka. You're the Moka Akashiya from Christian's reports?" She asked curiously.

"…yes."

For the first time in the past few minutes, a genuine smile spread across Gwen's face. "You're the one who saved his life aren't you?" Moka nodded. "It a pleasure to finally meet you." The red head said, surprising the other teens by her sudden friendliness. "I wanted to thank you for saving this idiot's life. I can't thank you enough."

"It's no problem." Moka replied, feeling a little embarrassed. "He would have done the same for me."

"I'm sure he would have."

"Hey! I saved his life too!" Kurumu suddenly cut in. "I would do anything for Christian!"

"Didn't you try to kill him?" Gwen deadpanned, remembering Kurumu's name from one of Christian's earliest reports.

This comment caused Kurumu's jaw to drop as she searched her shocked mind for an answer. "Uh- that's-but-he forgave me…"

Gwen continued to look at the girl dubiously, clearly not very impressed with the reply she had received. Thankfully, much to Kurumu's relief, her expression softened. "Don't worry, I know that you have been looking after Christian just as much as Moka has. Thank you." Kurumu found herself unable to reply as the words were taken from her. Before she could find the words to reply with, Gwen moved on. "So what kind of things are you girls interested in?"

As the girls began to bond Lala quickly joined in leaving the guys to stand and watch. Making a quick decision, Kevin and Ben walked over and prodded Christian on the shoulder.

"Wanna get leave the girls here and do something fun?" Ben said.

"Are you sure we should leave them here?"

"I'm sure Gwen can look after them for an hour." Kevin reasoned. "C'mon, you'll like it."

"Do I have a choice in this?" Christian asked, already knowing the answer.

"No." The two older teens said with a smile as they each grabbed one of Christian's shoulders and began dragging him out of the hangar.

"C'mon Zack." Ben added, grabbing the doppelganger teen's arm as they passed him.

"Hey! Where are we going?!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The two younger teens had followed the older ones through the base and in to the Plumber Workshop where all of Blukic and Driba's projects were. Kevin and Ben led the two to the back of the workshop where there was a large and long object covered by a tarp.

"What's this then?" Christian asked, Zack looking just as curious.

"This," Kevin said as he gripped the tarp. "is your future." With that he ripped the tarp away and revealed the object underneath.

Christian and Zack were wide eyed with as they gazed forward.

"Its…" Zack began.

"No way…" Christian murmured.

In front of the teens was in Christian's mind a modern piece of art. Propped up in all of its glory was a one of the most beautiful motorbikes he had ever seen. It had a slim silver body which was suspended by the four large pristine white wheels, two at the front, two at the back. The inside of the back wheels had emerald green plating with a green fin that came out from in between the two. The handles for the vehicle were attached to the front wheels and snaked up the chassis to the optimum position for the driver to hold. Metal of the body was smooth and elegantly crafted to allow comfort and manoeuvrability for the rider. Interestingly, there was no speedometer or rev counter just underneath and on either side of the rider's seat was a circular port hole that was just big enough to fit one's hand in.

"How do you like it?" Kevin asked, bringing Christian and Zack out of their awe.

"Is that mine?" Christian asked. The last time he had seen the bike his friends had built him, it had only had two wheels and was nowhere near as good looking as it was now.

"Yep." Ben confirmed. "Since the last time you were here, me and Kevin decided to give it a bit of an upgrade."

"I whipped up some designs, added a few extra features that I'll leave you to discover on your own and then supplied the parts to build it." The raven haired teen explained.

"Then we worked together to add to what you already had. Including a little input from Jury Rigg and you have one cool ride." Ben finished.

"Guys…I can't thank you enough." Christian managed to say.

"Your friends…built you a motorbike…" Zack mumbled.

"Wanna take it for a spin?" Kevin asked with a smirk.

"Do you even have to ask?" Christian replied. "Let's get it outside already!"

Within the next ten minutes, the four boys had pushed the bike through the base and out to a private test track that the Plumbers used to test new vehicles. The track was basically a wide track with a series of turns designed to push a vehicle to the extremes. The course was about three kilometres long in total. They wheeled it up to the starting line at which point Christian mounted the bike. The feeling was amazing. He had been waiting for this day for over a year but it was finally happening. He was going to ride.

"Excited?" Ben asked his friend.

"You have no idea."

"Well go nuts out there. When I first got to drive my car, despite the fact we were going to stop an alien invasion, I was so excited. And the rush is brilliant. That feeling is part of the reason Kevin gets uptight when his car gets wrecked."

"Yeah, but who normally does the wrecking?" Kevin asked with more annoyance than normal.

"Hey, I said sorry!"

"Can we get a move on already!?" Zack cried, impatiently waiting to see Christian shred it around the course. "The suspense is killing me."

"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses." Kevin replied before turning to Christian. "We'll be over at the side watching you. When you sit down the bike will give you a quick scan to recognise you as its owner. From there just say 'ignition' and it will start."

"Got it." Christian replied giving a mock salute.

As the three other boys walked over to the side of the track as Christian took hold of the vehicles handles. No sooner had he taken them hold did the bike engine begin to purr. The screen burst to life and a green light shone over Christian. Suddenly a computerised voice spoke.

"CHRISTIAN HAWKE RECOGNISED." The on board computer said with the voice of Outer Moka.

Christian's eyes went wide before casting an irritated look over to Kevin and Ben, both of whom were trying to hide their laughter unsuccessfully. Shrugging it off, Christian settled back into his seat. "Ignition." He said.

"COMMAND ACCEPTED."

The light shone again, this time moving all over Christian's body. As it did, Christian's clothes changed. He gained an armoured all black jumpsuit with green triangular plates on the shoulders. Black boots appeared over his shoes which connected to the jumpsuit while gauntlets appeared over his hands to add protection, however the left gauntlet had an opening at the wrist so that the Omnitrix was accessible, On the left side of the suit was a green hourglass symbol that was made out of the same material as the green plates on the shoulders. As a final touch, a helmet appeared that covered his entire face. A dark green tinted visor allowed Christian to see out of it. Inside the helmet, Christian had a holographic interface that showed him a speedometer, rev meter and also a system checks for the vehicle. When everything was ready the Christian revved the bike to show he was ready to go.

"On your marks!" Kevin shouted.

"Get set!" Ben added.

"GO!" Zack cried with a fist pump to the air.

Christian revved the accelerator and was off, the bike propelling him forward at 60 mph within 3 seconds. At the speed he was travelling, it didn't take long before Christian reached the first corner of the track. As he approached, the teen found that the holographic interface within his helmet had calculated the optimum angle to go around it. With near expert skill, he leaned to the right and caused the two front wheels to slide over each other as he sped around the corner.

As he levelled out, Christian revelled in the feeling of his bike. He was comfortable, and felt in total control. _'Okay…time to see what this thing can really do.' _The teen thought to himself as he once again revved the accelerator and made the bike propel him faster along the track. Christian rocketed around and second and third corners before effortlessly weaving around a set of cones. As he went around the fourth corner, Christian decided to be more adventurous. He eased of on the accelerator before throwing his weight backwards with all his might, lifting the bike on to its two back wheels before forcing the bike to turn 180 degrees. From there he allowed the bike to fall so that he was drifting backwards.

"Woo!" Christian cried as he weaved from side to side backwards. Feeling like he had showed off enough, he used the breaks on the back wheel to cause the bike to swerve around so that it was facing the right direction again before once again accelerating.

It wasn't ten seconds later before Christian had come back to the starting line. Not yet satisfied with his little joy ride, Christian decided to take another lap of the course going as fast as he could. After a few more laps, the teen decided it was finally time to come to a stop. The next time he came up to the starting line, Christian gradually put pressure on the brakes to bring the bike to a controlled stop at the line where Ben, Kevin and Zack were waiting for him.

No sooner had the bike stop and Christian dismounted did his riding gear disappear in a green energy wave revealing Christian in his normal clothing. "So how did I do?" The teen asked with a smile.

Before either Ben or Kevin could reply, Zack started shouting replies in a similar fashion to how Lala had earlier. "You were awesome! You absolutely ripped up that course! As you came out of the corners you were like *whoosh*! When can I try?"

"Unfortunately dude, the DV-8 is only keyed to Christian and therefore will only move for him." Kevin said in reply to the question.

"Aww…"

"DV-8?" Christian asked with a raised brow.

"That's its name." Ben explained. "And the interface is called C.I.R.A."

"C.I.R.A?"

"Cruise Interface Response Assistant." Kevin answered. "She'll help you when you're riding. As you probably saw, she can calculate the best way to go around a sharp turn, she has GPS and is connected to the Plumber Database so she can give you information on any villain who is registered."

"That's cool but why does it sound like Moka?" Christian asked with an overwhelming amount of irritation.

"Well you see," Kevin began with a mischievous smirk. "Ben and I felt that it would benefit you if when you were riding you would have a familiar, friendly voice guiding you. So, in all out wisdom, extrapolated your pink headed 'friend's' voice from the recording of her talking to the old man a while ago and there you go. She sounds very sweet by the way. Also try as you might, it can't be changed."

"You're welcome buddy." Ben added with a smug grin.

Christian however did not reply and instead had a very disconcerting smile on his face, his body was slightly shaking. "You know, in the past with your powers I would never have been able to get you back for something like this." He raised his left arm and pulled down the sleeve to reveal his Omnitrix, making Ben and Kevin both stop smirking. "Things are different now."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back with the girls, the four had decided to sit down in the HQ's re which was basically a large, triangular shaped room with three slightly curved, red sofas and a very large plasma screen television on the wall. Gwen and Lala were on one whilst Moka and Kurumu were on another. Running along the back wall were a series of cabinets that contained a variety of different books and DVDs from all over the universe. Gwen had been entertaining the girls since the guys had run off and had deemed them trustworthy enough to talk about her powers and her origins. The half Anodite teen was currently telling the others about some of her adventures as Lucky Girl since going to college.

"I can't believe you did that!" Kurumu laughed as Gwen finished her story.

"When people get overconfident they get sloppy." Gwen explained with a knowledgeable smile. "You can always count on that."

"Right!" The three other girls chimed.

"You know," Gwen started, taking a look at Moka, Kurumu and Lala in turn. "I've told you girls a lot about me, why don't you tell me a bit about you."

The three others looked at each other in confusion before returning their glance to their new friend. "Like what?" Moka asked.

"Well…I told you about my powers and the fact I'm half alien. If you don't mind me asking, what are your abilities?" Gwen suggested.

Moka and Kurumu looked a little uncomfortable at that, given one of the rules of Yokai Academy was that you couldn't reveal your monster form. However, before they could voice their unease, Lala had already thrown up her arm in enthusiasm to offer contribution.

"I'll go first!" She cried. "As a Devilukean, I am really strong. Much stronger than a human." The girl demonstrated by effortlessly lifting the unoccupied sofa above her head, impressing the other girls. "I'm also really smart. I love to invent and tinker with machines. I tried inventing a machine that would heal injuries quickly and tested it on my attendant Zastin but it didn't go well."

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From his infirmary bed, Zastin, in a full body cast that covered all his body except his eyes, groaned painfully as he began to feel his plastered nose itch. "Princess Lala…" The unfortunate warrior moaned as he tried unsuccessfully to move his arms. The device that had made his injures worse was located to the side of his bed, completely broken.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Also, I can shoot energy beams from my tail." Lala added.

"Really?!" Kurumu said.

"Well…I know I have the ability to." Lala admitted, a little embarrassedly. "I'm still trying to master it."

"That's still cool though." Moka said, trying to reassure the Devilukean. "I'm sure you'll master it eventually."

"Thanks!" Lala cried, jumping over to the other Pinkette and giving her a quick hug before sitting back down next to Gwen. "That's me done. What about you guys?" She asked the two monster girls.

Moka and Kurumu looked at each other for a moment. The two other teens had trusted them enough to tell them their abilities. It was only fair they do the same. Kurumu decided to go first.

"Well…you see I'm a monster known as a Succubus." She said.

"A Succubus!?" Gwen gasped.

"Do you know about them?" Kurumu asked.

"Only through what I've read in books. It's hard to believe you actually exist though."

"Well we do." Kurumu said proudly. "Anyway, as I was saying, as a Succubus I can grow my finger and toe nails in to sharp blades which I can use to cut through even the densest materials. I can cut through trees like nothing."

"That's amazing…" Gwen admitted.

"And awesome!" Lala added.

"Also," Kurumu continued, shifting into her monster form, shocking the two girls who hadn't seen it before. "I have wings that allow me to fly and I have the ability to create powerful illusions that if I'm not careful can leave a person in an endless nightmare. And I can't forget that I can hypnotise any male with my charm spell and that I can use my tail to enter the dreams of anyone."

"That's quite the array of abilities." Gwen said in awe. She had no idea this girl was so powerful. As Kurumu withdrew her wings and tail, Gwen turned to Moka. "Considering you drank Christian's blood earlier, I'm guessing you're a vampire? Are you are strong as her?" She asked.

Moka fidgeted her foot a little before answering. "Right now, my powers are sealed by this Rosario around my neck." She said, making Gwen and Lala take notice of the silver cross. "However, when it's removed and my abilities are released, I become super powerful."

"How powerful are we talking?" Gwen asked, a little confused by the vague explanation.

"Far more powerful than me." Kurumu begrudgingly admitted.

"Really!?" Lala cried with stars in her eyes.

Moka nodded. "However when my powers are released, I also become pretty scary and my inner personality takes over."

"Inner personality?" Gwen inquired.

"She's quite intense." Kurumu explained, having actually fought Inner Moka. "Back in my less pleasant days, Inner Moka threatened to rip off my wings and tail so I couldn't hurt anyone ever again." She said sadly before a dreamy expression crossed her face. "But then Christian stopped her and saved me and I realised I had found my destined one."

Gwen, Moka and Lala ignored Kurumu's last remark and continued talking. "But don't get the wrong idea." Moka continued. "She may come off as quite mean but the inner me actually cares a lot about me and Christian and the rest of our friends. She's a really nice person."

"I'm sure…" Gwen said with a sweat drop, not entirely convinced. "So as a vampire, what are your powers?"

"Well, I'm naturally super strong but I'm also able to convert my own monster energy into raw strength." Moka explained.

"That's incredible." Lala said.

"I can also detect the demonic aura of others in order to find their location, a little like echo location." Moka continued. "I'm also quite fast and really durable."

Gwen placed her hand on her chin, thinking what she could ask. "If you're a vampire, does that mean you can't go into the sun?"

"Oh no." Moka said, waving her hand from side to side. "That's a myth that somehow developed centuries ago. The truth is that vampire just get sunburnt really easily."

"I see." Gwen replied, processing the new information. "What about running water?"

"It's not so much running water as water itself. You see water has purifying elements which are deadly to vampires. Just a drop is like receiving an electric shock." Moka explained.

"Wow…Human society has very little idea what monsters are really like do they?" Gwen stated.

"Nope. Humans are thick." Kurumu interrupted, forgetting who she was talking to.

"What?" Gwen said with a little venom.

Realising her mistake, Kurumu quickly tried to wave off what she had said. "Oh no, I didn't mean you. You're really smart. You're not thick at all. Just ignore me. I should be in summer school right now anyway."

Gwen still looked ticked but before she could reply, a tremor shook the base. Gwen automatically stood up. "What was that!?"

"Are we under attack again?" Lala asked, scared after what had happened only days prior.

"AGAIN!?" Moka and Kurumu cried.

"No, somethings off." Gwen answered. "If this were attack then the alarms would be going off."

"What is it then?" Moka asked, clearly worried.

Gwen didn't bother answering as she ran out into the corridor where a couple of Plumber operatives were running by. The strange thing was that they didn't look worried or apprehensive. They looked excited.

"What's going on? Where are you going?" Gwen demanded, making one of Plumbers, a human man with short dark hair, stop in his tracks.

"We're going to watch the fight ma'am." The Plumber replied respectably, knowing who Gwen was.

"Fight?" Gwen repeated. "What fight?"

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The four girls rushed towards the damaged training area only to find a crowd of rowdy and cheering Plumber operatives. Pushing their way to the front of the crowd, the girls were absolutely stunned by what they saw.

The whole area was obscured by a dust cloud, undoubtable caused by more damage to the training room. Inside the cloud, the silhouettes of four people could be seen. One was quite large and bulky, the second was rather thin and appeared to have a tail, the third looked to be quite muscular and had blades coming out of his elbows and the fourth appeared to be the most normal but appeared to be using some kind of hammer.

Before any of the girls could a good look, the muscular and thin figures came flying out of the dust only to land painfully on the ground. Now that the girls could see two of the combatants, they instantly recognised the form of Kickin Hawk, who was slowly pushing himself of the ground. The other figure only Lala and Gwen recognised. It was a thin, feline like humanoid with grey and black fur that appeared to look like a jumpsuit. He had black wolverine like fins on the side of his head and triangular like nose. His eyes were blue and a scar over his left eye. A blue Omnitrix symbol was on a blue and white belt around the alien's waist. Unlike the form Gwen was used to, this alien had a cat like tail. This was Positive Fasttrack, not that Kurumu and Moka recognised him due to only seeing Christian's aliens.

It was at that moment the dust cloud cleared to reveal the other two figures. The first was clearly Kevin. However he it appeared that his entire body, including his clothes, had turned into metal. Strangely his right hand had turned into a large hammer. The second figure was appeared to be an armadillo like being with bulky yellow armour. It had jackhammer parts on its wrists, hands and elbows and had a grey tail. On its shoulders were grey bolts. Its head was covered by a yellow helmet that looked like some kind of Greek helmet but it had two long grey ears sticking out. A green Omnitrix symbol was located in the centre of his chest. This was the form Ben had dubbed Armodrillo.

"What is going on here!?" Gwen demanded.

"They came in about twenty minutes ago." A Plumber who looked like a pink gorilla wearing high tech sunglasses. "Christian seemed pretty annoyed about something so they came in here for a spar. Christian and the new guy are a team against Ben and Kevin."

"I wonder what Christian was annoyed about?" Kurumu whispered to Moka.

"Same here." The pinkette agreed.

"It doesn't matter." Gwen stated, pink aura ominously glowing off her as her eyes narrowed. "Because I'm taking them all down when they get out of there."

The three other girls looked at Gwen fearfully and made a pact never to get on her bad side.

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Back with the boys, Kickin Hawk and Positive Fasttrack were both back on their feet and were now staring down their opponents. The two pairs began to circle each other, weary of the other. Despite Ben and Kevin having just punched the living daylights out of them, Christian and Zack were no pushovers. While Ben and Kevin had gone for a more strength focused strategy, Christian and Zack had decided to go with aliens who were more mobile. If Ben hadn't used Armodrillo to stagger them with his tremor powers then they may not have been in the situation they were in.

The fight resumed when Kickin Hawk grabbed Positive Fasttrack's left arm and swung him around twice before throwing his at Kevin. The Half Osmosian had no time to react as the feline like alien flew into his chest feet first, separating him from his battle partner and pinning him to the ground. Prime Armodrillo turned to help his friend but was interrupted when Kickin Hawk jumped up and punched him in the face. Fortunately for the armadillo like alien, his armour was tough enough that the blow didn't do that much damage. Quickly recovering, Prime Armodrillo threw both his arm before bringing them down with all his might. Once again the ground began to shake and caused Kickin Hawk to stumble. Using that to his advantage, Prime Armodrillo grabbed a hold of the front of Kickin Hawk's strap vest and began to shake the bird like alien uncontrollably, disorientating him further.

Positive Fasttrack, seeing the trouble his friend was in, let go of Kevin and used his speed to rush up behind the armoured alien and grabbing Kickin Hawk out of Prime Armodrillo's grip. The transformed teen slid to a stop on the other side of the room.

"Are you okay Bro?" Positive Fasttrack asked as Kickin Hawk wearily stood up straight.

"I'm good." Kickin Hawk replied. "But I may have bit off more than I can chew."

"Their defiantly tough." Positive Fasttrack agreed, eyeing Prime Armodrillo as he helped Kevin back to his feet.

"Giving up over there?" Kevin taunted as soon as he was back on his feet, morphing both his hands into spiked maces.

"We have you outmatched." Prime Armodrillo added. "I've been using these aliens for years now and Kevin's been fighting with me for almost as long. There is nothing you've got that we don't know about."

At that moment an idea sprang into both Kickin Hawk's head. With a smirk, he reached for the symbol on his chest. "We'll see about that." He said as he tapped the symbol, enveloping himself in green light. When it faded, all watching were surprised to see an unfamiliar figure wearing thick, full body, green and black armour with a jetpack on its back. On its chest was the Omnitrix symbol.

"Ironmonger!" The alien cried.

Kevin and Positive Armodrillo with expressions of pure shock. "Where did he get that?!" Positive Armodrillo exclaimed, jealous about the new form.

"Dude, you look awesome!" Positive Fasttrack cried.

"If you think he looks cool," Ironmonger began as he raised his hands, "then you're going to love what he can do." With those words, Ironmonger shot out two powerful blasts of energy at his opponents which hit both combatants in the chest and sent them flying into the opposite wall hard.

Inside the observation area, Gwen was gawking at the new form. "That's Ironmonger?"

"Yep." Kurumu confirmed. "Cool isn't he?"

Gwen could only nod in agreement. "That's one word for him."

Moka said nothing as she watched her friend with unease. She couldn't but ask herself why Christian had been annoyed.

Back with the fight, Positive Fasttrack stood up next to Ironmonger with a smirk on his face. "Well if you're using something new," He began as blue aura began to spread over his body. His body began to change, becoming more human in appearance. However there were some distinct differences from what he normally looked like. His hair had become pink and he was wearing white trousers and open black waist jacket that covered the upper half of his body. Around his waist was a blue and white belt with the Ultramatrix symbol in the centre. His most distinguished feature was the black tail that he now possessed which had what appeared to be a metal star like appendage at the end of it.

"Ironmonger, meet Majin." The new form said with a smile as he pounded his fists together.

"See you got another one." Ironmonger remarked as he cast Positive Majin a glance but keeping his targeting systems locked on their recovering opponents. "Looks a bit like that Lala girl."

"Well I did somehow get him from her." Positive Majin admitted sheepishly. "How'd you get that guy?"

"Sort of just turned up. Wasn't really complaining at the time."

As the pair talked, Prime Armodrillo and Kevin recovered from Ironmonger's attack and had made it back to their feet. However as Ironmonger still had them in his sights, they were being cautious with their next move.

"You take Zack." The armoured alien whispered to his friend. "I'll take Christian."

"We never did haze them did we?" Kevin said with a smirk before running forward.

Ironmonger was quick to act and shot a blast on energy at the raven haired teen. However Kevin slid under the blast, making hit the ground behind him, and proceeded to tackle Positive Majin around the waist.

Knowing that his friend could handle himself, Ironmonger focused his attention on the ten foot tall armadillo like alien now charging towards him. Just before they collided, Ironmonger took to the air by igniting his jetpack. Now with the aerial advantage, Ironmonger began shooting blast after blast at Armodrillo. Unfortunately, as he was also channelling energy through his backpack, his attacks were slightly weaker than normal which allowed Prime Armodrillo to block them with his massive jackhammer like arms.

"That the best you got?" The big alien taunted.

Stopping his assault, Ironmonger glared down at his opponent, not that he could tell. With a flick of his wrists, a hilt slid out in to his hands. Channelling his energy into them and creating two solid light particle swords. "I'll show you my best." The green armoured alien replied as he shot towards his foe and brought his swords down on Armodrillo's arm.

Across from them, Kevin and Positive Majin were duking it out. After Kevin had tackled him, Positive Majin had used both feet to get the metal covered teen off of him. The two had then quickly engaged in a fist fight, exchanging blows with one another and trying to gain the upper hand. Positive Majin was stronger but Kevin's armour provided better protection, leaving the pair about even. However Kevin hand more tricks and more fighting experience.

As Positive Majin threw a right hook at Kevin's face only for the half Osmosian to block it by grabbing his clenched fist. Positive Majin went to make another move when he felt something like liquid spread up the arm Kevin had grabbed. Upon closer inspection, he was shocked to find that the metal that had been coating Kevin's arm was moving over to his hand and creating a tight domed cylinder around his lower arm, preventing him from opening his hand.

Kevin used the shock his opponent had to his advantage by grabbing Positive Majin's other arm and once again creating another cylindrical dome around it, completely cutting off the transformed teen from opening his hands. To finish off, Kevin grabbed the rims of Positive Majin's jacket and threw the alien to the ground face first. The half Osmosian ended it by moving Positive Majin's contained hands together and bonding the makeshift cuffs together. He had lost the armour on his arms but Kevin had succeeded in taking Zack out of the fight.

"Ben, Zack's out!" Kevin called to Prime Armodrillo. "Hurry up and finish this!"

"Kinda busy here!" Prime Armodrillo replied as he block another swing from Ironmonger's swords with his right arm. Luckily for the armadillo like alien, his armour was strong enough to withstand the blows. Unfortunately for him, Ironmonger had the advantage of speed. Due to his smaller size, Ironmonger was easily able to manoeuvre around the larger bigger alien and attack.

"How am I doing now Ben?" Ironmonger taunted as he once again slashed at Positive Armodrillo's arm.

"I'll admit you're pretty good." Prime Armodrillo replied, using one arm to block the swing. "But not good enough to beat me." He declared, tapping the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. After the familiar green flash that normally followed, Prime Armodrillo was replaced by a humanoid with yellow and black skin. He had two crab like claws and his broad shoulders went up to form an arch around a detached, metallic, skull like head which floated between them. A yellow, emblem like crest was on the new beings forehead. The Omnitrix symbol was on the being's chest. "Lodestar!" The form cried.

As soon as Ironmonger saw this form he knew he had lost the fight. "This isn't good." The armoured alien said as Prime Lodestar thrust one of his claws forward and began to emit green magnetic wave which automatically made Ironmonger fall to the ground by the unassailable force that plagued him. "You're new form can't resist my magnetic personality." Prime Lodestar quipped as he used his powers to lift Ironmonger into the air, keeping his arms far apart from the Omnitrix symbol on his chest so he couldn't transform into another form. "You can't do anything now." The magnetic alien said. "Give up."

Ironmonger cast a glance toward his comrade, who was struggling against Kevin and his restrains and knew there was no chance of winning now. The only other form he had up his sleeve was Flarefox, and at this point he couldn't even transform into him. It was over. "I yield." He sighed.

Prime Lodestar nodded and let the armoured alien, where he tapped the Omnitrix symbol and reverted back into Christian. Seeing that the fight was over and there was nothing more he could do, Positive Majin ceased his struggling and let his head hit the floor as he regained his breath. A blue aura spread over him as he reverted back into his human form. Once he back to normal, he turned to Kevin. "Can you get me out of these things please?"

With a smirk, Kevin reached down and reabsorbed the cuffs, thus freeing Zack. As he did so, Prime Lodestar tapped his own Omnitrix symbol and reverted into Ben. With a grin of satisfaction, the original Omnitrix user walked over to Christian and reached out his hand. "Good match." He said. "But you've got nothing on me and Kevin."

Christian looked at the hand for a moment before smiling. "Not yet anyway." He replied as he shook Ben's hand. "But who knows, maybe next time."

"I wouldn't bet on it." Ben returned causing both boys to laugh.

At that moment Zack and Kevin joined the two, the latter having deformed his protective exo-armour. Zack looked disappointed but happy at the same time. "Aw man, it sucks we lost." He said.

"Well that's what happens when you face an undefeatable team like me and Ben." Kevin stated, fist bumping Ben. "No one can take us down."

"KEVIN ETHAN LEVIN! BENJAMIN KIRBY TENNYSON! CHRISTIAN HAWKE!"

The sound of their names made the three boys' blood run cold as they turned to see a furious Gwen heading towards them from the training room entrance. Moka, Kurumu and Lala were closely following behind, the former two looking extremely worried whilst the latter had an expression of excitement.

"JUST WHAT WAS GOING ON HERE!?" Gwen demanded as she got in Ben, Kevin and Christian's faces. Zack, who had been saved Gwen's wrath by some miracle, had managed to tiptoe over to Lala.

"Well you see-" Kevin began, only to be interrupted.

"I don't want to hear from you!" Gwen told him. "I know you'll find some way to stretch the truth.

As Kevin looked guilty, Gwen set her sights on Ben. "So?"

"Ask Christian." Ben said quickly, pointing at the boy in question.

"Dude!" Christian cried, feeling betrayed as Gwen turned to him with an expression that could kill. She was definitely pissed. Knowing he couldn't say that the reason they were fighting was because they made his bike sound like Moka, Christian quickly came up with a cover story. "Since we had time to kill, we thought that we might have a little spar just to test our skills."

"Why don't I believe you?" Gwen replied, glaring at the teen. "No one's going to give me the real story are they?"

"Don't know what you're talking about." The three boys said together, only earning an irritated look from Gwen. She knew it was pointless to question them though. They'd just make something up. Her best chance was Ben who had an obvious tell when lying but she didn't feel like pressing the matter. "Fine, if you're not going to tell me then I'm not going to force you to." She said, folding her arms in irritation. As the three boys let out sighs of relief and relaxed, they were quickly confronted with a familiar pink glow. Looking up, they found Gwen's outstretched hand lit up with mana. "But this is not over. Do we understand each other?"

"Yes ma'am!" The three boys replied, raising their hands in surrender.

Satisfied, Gwen stopped threatening the boys and allowed a small smile to appear on her face. "In any case I have to say that was quite entertaining. I see that both Christian and Zack have improved using your aliens. Good job."

"Cheers/Thanks." The two said respectively.

"That fight was really impressive." Moka said, coming forward to Christian. "It's a shame you didn't win though."

"Yeah!" Kurumu added, barging in front of Moka so she was the only one in Christian's line of vision. "You and Zack were so cool. I think I like you even more now."

"I appreciate it." Christian replied, sweat dropping at her last remark.

"If they were cool, how were we?" Ben asked mischievously.

"You were alright." Kurumu simply stated, clearly biased.

"Just alright?" Ben asked, taking a step forward, not noticing his shoes were untied. "Is that all you thi-" Ben tried to say only to trip on his laces. The hero teen fell forward and took down Kurumu when he grabbed onto her to try and stabilise himself. The two fell to the floor, Ben landing on top of the bluenette.

"Ben!/Kurumu!" Moka and Gwen cried respectively, going to help their friend/cousin. That was, until they noticed the position the two were in. Kurumu was sprawled out on the floor with her arms just above her head, her eyes closed as she recovered from the sudden feeling of hitting the ground. Ben on the other hand was completely on top of the girl, his eyes were also closed but his right hand was on top of something it shouldn't be.

The six teens who were still on their feet looked at the scene in shock as Kurumu opened her eyes and looked to see what Ben was touching. Almost instantly her face turned red and a look of horror crossed her face. The bluenette found herself unable to speak as Ben opened his eyes. Upon feeling something soft he squeezed his hand only to make Kurumu yelp. Ben automatically realised what was happening and shot up and tried to offer apologies to the girl who was still unable to speak.

It was at this point that Kurumu's hand began to shake. "You…" She growled. "You…"

"I am so sorry." Ben said desperately. "It was an accident."

"You…" Kurumu repeated as she raised her hand. It was then that Kurumu slapped Ben around the face so hard that the smack could be heard throughout the floor of the base.

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"Do I want to know?" Max asked when he saw his grandson. The right side of Ben's face had a massive red hand mark on the right side of his face which was also slightly swollen. To Christian's left, Kurumu gave an angry pout as she folded her arms and whipped her head to her left in a huff.

"Probably not." Ben sighed, clearly having accepted Kurumu's wrath. Next to Gwen, Kevin was trying his hardest not to laugh.

The eight teens had gathered in the main conference room for the briefing that Max had talked about earlier. It had been a very awkward since the incident prior as now Kurumu didn't want anything to do with Ben and was trying to keep herself as distant as possible from him while keeping close to Christian. Everyone knew that what had happened was an accident but it was clear Kurumu wasn't accepting it. It was honestly a blessing when the two hours had passed. They were now standing in front of Max and a large monitor which was displaying a map with a red circle around a certain area.

Max took another look over the group before deciding it wasn't worth pursuing and moved on. "Well now that we are all here, it's time to tell you why we gathered you." The monitor image changed to show a crater in the middle of the desert. "A few days ago, a meteorite fell and struck the earth in this location." Max explained. "Almost immediately, Plumbers were dispatched to warden off the area and it is under our protection until further notice."

"But grandpa, if it is already under protection why do you need us here?" Gwen asked curiously.

Max gestured to the monitor where the screen changed to actually show the meteorite. As soon as the image appeared, the teens were gobsmacked by what they saw. The meteor huge, at least as big as normal sized Vaxasaurian, and was made entirely out of a green crystal that shone brilliantly. Jagged shards shot out of the sides at odd angles giving it a less that friendly appearance. Nonetheless it was remarkably beautiful.

"Is that…" Ben began.

"Taydenite?" Gwen finished in awe. Kevin said nothing but did shiver from a bad memory involving the gem.

"What's taydenite?" Zack asked, Moka and Kurumu also turned their heads in interest.

"Taydenite is the most precious gem in the Milky Way." Lala explained, earning the attention of the people gathered. "Not only that, but it is also the rarest. It's worth a great fortune in intergalactic markets, good and bad. Not only is it used as money but it can also be used as fuel. Did you know that the Takion 930 spacecraft uses it as a power source?"

"I like her." Kevin whispered to Zack, who only smiled in agreement.

"How do you know all of that?" Christian asked.

"Everyone not from Earth knows about taydenite." Lala explained. "I've even used some of it in my inventions."

"Fair." Christian admitted.

"Back to our discussion from before." Max intervened. "The meteorite is indeed composed of taydenite. However, when it entered Earth's atmosphere, Plumber sensors detected something else."

"What was it?" Moka asked.

"A life sign. Coming from inside the meteorite." Max said, once again shocking everyone in the room.

"How is that possible?" Gwen asked. "Nothing could survive being trapped in something like that."

"How did it even get in there?" Kevin added.

"We don't know." Max admitted. "However the facts are that lots of bad people are going to want that taydenite for their own purposes and they are not going to need what is alive inside."

"But why do you need all of us?" Zack asked.

"As I said before, there will be a lot of people after the money this meteor can give them. We need as many people as possible to protect it and the lifeform inside." Max explained.

"Grandpa, you keep saying lifeform. Do you actually know what is inside?" Gwen asked.

Max lowered his head. "Something ancient." The old man replied. "Centuries ago, there was a war between two species. The Ectonurites and another race known as the Ghoulot."

"What's a Ghoulot, Grandpa?" Ben asked, never having heard of the species.

"They were a race that until now was thought to have been extinct." Max explained. "However what you should know is that Ghoulots are similar to Vladats, or as Ben calls his transformation, Whampire. They are a sentient, predatory species that hunt Ectonurites. During that war, thousands were slaughtered and the only reason why the Ectonurites were able to survive was because they joined forces with the other species resident to the Anur system."

"So they were bad guys?" Kevin asked.

"It seems everyone from that system is." Ben pointed out.

"In any case, the Ghoulots were thought to have become extinct." Max explained. "This is a major discovery and the Ghoulot within that Taydenite needs to be preserved, we may even be able free it without harming it."

"So what's the play then?" Ben asked.

"We separate the eight of you into four teams of two. Those teams will then take positions as we move the meteor here to the Plumber HQ." Max explained.

"The eight of us?" Moka repeated. "You want us to fight too?" She asked, referring to herself, Kurumu and Lala.

"From the reports I have received from Christian I understand that the two of you are quite the fighters. And after seeing how Princess Lala handled herself during the attack on the base I believe that all three of you have the capability to help during this next mission." Max replied. "That is, if you want to."

The three girls all shared a look before nodding to each other, all coming to the same decision. "We want to help." Moka answered for the three.

"Now hang on." Christian interrupted.

"Is that wise?" Zack asked. Both teens were worried about their friends.

"We can do this." Kurumu stated confidently. "Besides, this'll be nothing next to dealing with Kuyo."

"I want to help!" Lala cried. "Besides, Zack, as my bodyguard you have to do what I say and I say I'm coming with you."

"We can help." Moka added. "Please just let us."

Christian and Zack shared a look before relenting. They both knew that they wouldn't be able to change the girls' minds. "Fine." They said together, their shoulders slacking.

"Yeah!" The three girls cried together, high fiving one another.

"Whipped." Kevin whispered to Ben who chuckled.

"Eh hem." Gwen coughed into her hand.

"What!?" Kevin said indignantly, shrugging his shoulders.

'_Perhaps, this wasn't the wisest idea.' _Max thought to himself as he looked over the teens. _'However they, with the resistance we can expect, they may be the best chance we have of getting that thing back here. Let's just hope that it won't be as bad as I fear.'_

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A tall, broad figure walked down the darkened corridor towards a large, demonic looking door. When he reached it, he used one of his massive fists to knock on the door.

"Enter." A high pitched voice answered that would have sent chills down any humans back.

The figure opened the door and entered a large throne room that was about as long as half a football pitch. At the end of the room, was a throne that was completely obscured in darkness. Sitting on the throne was a slim, bony figure whose main characteristics were unable to be seen. The only thing that could be made out was a glowing amethyst eye that cut through the darkness ominously.

The first figure approached the throne before dropping to one knee in respect. "My master, one has been discovered." He said soberly.

The purple eye narrowed when he heard the first figures declaration. "Where?!" It demanded.

"In a desert on Earth, my lord." The figure replied.

For a moment, the figure with the purple eye said nothing. A few moments passed before the figure with the purple eye spoke again. "Prepare the troops. It is time to end what I should have finished all that time ago."

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**And done. The summer arc now only has one chapter left before we go back to Yokai Academy. Next chapter is mostly going to be action with lots of villains appearing.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If anyone's interested, Christian's bike is based on the Kawasaki J. It looks absolutely brilliant. Anyway, as always, please leave your reviews and see you next time. **


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